Is Atlanta United really pursuing Venezuela’s Yeferson Soteldo?

Reports and rumors have been circulating around the soccer world over the past 24 hours that Atlanta United have made a €17 million bid for Venezuelan national team midfielder Yeferson Soteldo.

The rumor began when Gazeta Esportiva, a Brazilian outlet that covers Soteldo’s club, Santos FC, published comments from the team’s president. Jose Carlo Peres claims that Atlanta United made the bid but that he’s not going to let Soteldo leave for anything less than €50 million.

So, does this rumor make sense? First and foremost, the first piece of logic that tells us that this rumor holds no water is the fact that Atlanta United currently has three DPs on its roster. Ezequiel Barco has generated transfer rumors recently, but supposed transfer clauses in the deal with Independiente doesn’t make it financially feasible to sell him yet.

Unless Josef Martinez or Pity Martinez are headed out, this is the first roadblock in front of this happening.

Another big warning sign that this rumor is likely bogus is that Santos just recently bought the player in January for $3.5 million. While Soteldo probably has buckets of potential, it’s very hard to see any player’s value increasing 500% in just six months.

So, why would Atlanta United’s name be put in with this rumor? Well, the club has earned a reputation as an entity that will spend this type of money. Twice now they’ve spent around $15 million on transfers in back-to-back years. If you’re a club and/or agent attempting to boost the value of a player, having a club who others know will spend that money linked to the player, could accomplish that goal.

The rumor has made its way through the different outlets and seems to be growing legs in that regard. However, common sense tells us that unless something really weird happens, this deal — as stated in the report — is likely not coming to fruition any time soon.