Atlanta United President Darren Eales: “We’re always looking to improve the squad.”

In case anyone had any doubts after Gabriel Heinze told reporters following Atlanta United’s 0-0 draw against New York Red Bulls Sunday that he was talking to the front office about strengthening the team, Darren Eales spoke in an interview on 92.9 The Game yesterday confirming the those intentions.

“I think we’re always looking to improve the squad,” Eales said. “It’s definitely too early in terms of panicking, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to look to improve the squad. We’ve got another opportunity with the window coming up and the ability to try to make some moves.

“Look, this is sport,” Eales added later in the conversation. “You can’t guarantee, particularly in a game like soccer where the margins are very thin, you’re going to get a win every time. What I can assure our fans is that we’re spending everything we can to get it right, and we’ve got another window to make that opportunity [happen]. I’m pretty confident that come the end of the season we’ll be back to where we expect to be in the table. We’re never resting on our laurels.”

To be perfectly clear, this is about as anodyne of a quote as you’re likely to get from a front office member about potential moves, but the baseline at least sets an expectation that the team will try to be active this summer to help boost the team out of its current position of 10th in the Eastern Conference. It’s also worth noting that Eales seems confident that there is indeed wiggle room for the team budget-wise, though it would be surprising if any opportunity to make a significant acquisition doesn’t come at the cost of moving a player out.

When Heinze was similarly asked about the upcoming transfer window, he said: “Yes, we have been analyzing and talking about what the team needs. Afterwards you know better than me. There are different rules here. We know that the club is giving maximal effort. Let’s see what we can get. But also the club has done a great effort to help the team grow. They did it also in the past. Especially with young players who have a good present but also a great future ahead of them.”