Miguel Almiron’s agent reveals update on transfer talks

Atlanta United’s Miguel Almiron is the hottest commodity MLS has ever possessed, but aside from vague rumors, not much is happening in the transfer market in pursuit of his services so far this January. Almiron’s agent, Daniel Campos, addressed the status of negotiations for the creative midfielder in a Paraguayan radio interview Wednesday morning.

“There are two to three clubs in England that have interest but we have not advanced much,” Campos told Paraguyan journalist Bruno Pont on his ABC Cardinal 730 AM talk show Wednesday.

“From England, Germany, Italy and Spain, there are clubs in those countries that have an interest in Miguel Almiron,” Campos continued. “We have no worries.”

Newcastle United are the team that has reportedly been hottest on the trail for Almiron, but reports from Tyneside in recent days suggested that Almiron has demanded wages exceeding Newcastle’s budget at approximately £100k pounds per week. Campos denied this report, stating that personal terms are agreed, and that the demanded transfer fee is the figure in currently in contention. Atlanta United President Darren Eales has previously stated that he values Almiron at or around $30 million.

Campos’s claims backed up a report by Ed Aarons, deputy editor at The Guardian, who tweeted prior to the interview that personal terms are agreed.

The situation is clear as mud. What we know with some certainty is that this situation is just heating up as the clock continues to tick during the January transfer window. In the interview, Almiron’s agent predicted that starting next week — marking the midway point of the January window — action would start to happen as teams push on to get deals done.

The last part of this is interesting. June? It hasn’t seemed possible, considering the impending arrival of Pity Martinez from River Plate, but perhaps the team has a backup option to clear a Designated Player slot until the summer window. The obvious tactic to do so would be to loan Ezequiel Barco, a move his former club Independiente has already inquired about. The struggle to move Barco is purely financial. His wages are very high in comparison to what most players make in Argentina, so it’s unlikely that any Argentine club would even come close to affording 100% of his salary. Atlanta can still loan him and clear a DP slot by receiving partial payment of his wages, but Atlanta will have to pay the remainder out of their own pockets.