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Well, here’s some speculative news for everyone’s Monday afternoon. New York Red Bulls insider Kristian Dyer tweeted that Atlanta United is attempting to acquire Portland Timbers and USMNT midfielder Darlington Nagbe for a record fee.
Hearing from multiple sources that Atlanta is looking to acquire Darlington Nagbe... If a deal were to go through then I'm being told it would be for an amount that would eclipse Dom Dwyer's fee to Orlando earlier this year.
— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) December 11, 2017
ESPN’s Taylor Twellman and Steve Zakuani, a former player and teammate of Nagbe’s, reinforced the message.
Hearing Nagbe could be on the move to @ATLUTD in the near future. #MLS
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) December 11, 2017
Not a rumour. I know beyond a doubt https://t.co/BuZjyXkiWY
— Steve Zakuani (@Zakuani11) December 11, 2017
It would be an interesting move, and the first question that comes to mind is what position Nagbe would play under Tata Martino. Although he played a majority of the time on the left wing with Portland, Nagbe also started about a third of his matches in the holding midfield. This move could either fill the hole left by Yamil Asad if the Ezequiel Barco signing fell through or it could be the Jeff Larentowicz replacement many have been waiting for.
Dyer noted that this deal would likely break the MLS interleague transfer fee record set by Orlando City last season, when they acquired Dom Dwyer from Sporting Kansas City for a reported $1.6 million in allocation money. In Atlanta’s case, it helps that MLS recently announced a league-wide increase in total allocation money of $2.8 million to be used starting in 2018. Happy Monday.
What are your thoughts on this potential move? Let us know in the comments.