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A week ago it seemed like the roster was set going into the season. That all changed when Lautaro Giannetti’s anterior cruciate ligament changed.
An official statement from Lautaro Giannetti's representatives confirms that an MRI on Giannetti's left knee revealed a "change in the anterior cruciate ligament."
— Felipe Cárdenas (@FelipeCar) March 4, 2021
Giannetti will return to Buenos Aires to undergo additional tests. The deal with #ATLUTD will not be completed.
It’s not entirely clear what it changed into, but the deal appears to be off until it changes back. For now, Atlanta is in a tough position when it comes to a starting center back. Everyone knows the team needs one so finding good value will be difficult and the other options are not entirely ideal. Miles Robinson is a lock for his spot, but the left center back role is fairly up in the air.
The options are: Anton Walkes, George Campbell, and Santi Sosa. Draft pick Josh Bauer hasn’t signed with the team yet. It seems like Sosa might be the first pick with Walkes as a close second, but the Argentine might be a better fit in the midfield while Campbell would need to make some big strides to start.
WAIT. There’s another option:
If that’s the case we are in some DEEP deep shit
— Michael Parkhurst (@MFparkhurst) March 3, 2021
So Atlanta is left with a few players who could fill in and probably be suitable for the time being. The team may also just wait until the summer to find a better option, but an injury would put the depth to the test, not to mention that Miles Robinson will probably be called into either the USMNT Nations League or Gold Cup roster. Another option might be trying to make a trade within the league for a proven MLS player, but that might cost a lot of fake kinds of allocation money it’s not clear that such a player exists or that Atlanta has enough fake money for him.
And thus I ask: how is everyone feeling? Is the center back position a source of concern for you or is going into the season with two or three plan B players OK? Do you have any bright ideas that we can tell Darren Eales to do? What is Jeff Larentowicz doing?