Julian Gressel, Gordon Wild receive green cards

Atlanta United announced on Friday that forwards Julian Gressel and Gordon Wild have received green cards and will no longer take up international slots on the club’s roster.

The move was long expected for both players. Wild was finalizing the process of receiving his as recently as the first week of May, per the AJC’s Doug Roberson. He moved to the U.S. in 2015 to begin his studies at USC Upstate before transferring to Maryland, where he starred for two seasons before deciding to forgo his final year of eligibility and pursue a professional career. After being loaned to the USL’s Charleston Battery in 2018 - where he scored 7 goals and 3 assists across 20 starts and 33 appearances - Wild has spent the bulk of 2019 with ATL UTD 2 while appearing on the first team’s 18-man roster during Concacaf Champions League and the MLS opener against D.C. United.

As for Gressel, his green card appeared to be in the works in earnest after marrying his wife, who is American, in December. While he has mentioned a dream of returning to his homeland and playing in Bundesliga, he has expressed an equal desire to remain with Atlanta United for a while, if not in MLS altogether.

From a roster standpoint, Atlanta now have two open international slots available and have a bit of a buffer to work with as far as depth is concerned, especially with Copa America and the Gold Cup around the corner.