Atlanta United Sign Irish Midfielder Chris McCann

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Doug Roberson reported this morning that Atlanta United signed former Wigan Athletic midfielder Chris McCann in their first move of the summer transfer window. McCann scored four goals and had six assists in forty appearances for the League One champions last season.

The club have since confirmed the signing.

McCann is a 28-year-old Irish holding midfielder who has played 275 games in the Football League Championship in his career. The majority of his career was spent with Burnley before moving to Wigan on a free transfer in July 2013. According to Transfermarkt, his contract at Wigan ended on June 30 which means he was free to sign without a transfer fee. He was offered a new deal at the end of the season.

He is a versatile player, as shown by last season at Wigan where he featured as a holding midfielder, center back, and right back. He even played as a wide midfielder and as a left back. His versatility will be very helpful to a young team that will be learning as it goes.

McCann featured for Republic of Ireland youth national teams, but has not earned a cap with the senior team.

Roberson reported that McCann is not a Designated Player signing and Targeted Allocation Money was not used in this acquisition. He will go on loan until training camp opens in January. It appears that the loan will be in the UK according to his latest Tweet: