George Campbell traded to CF Montreal

Atlanta United announced today that it has agreed to trade defender George Campbell to CF Montreal in exchange for $600,000 in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) with the possibility of the sum reaching $900,000 through incentives.

The yearly breakdown of monies the club will receive is $400,000 in 2023 GAM and $200,000 in 2024 GAM.

Campbell, 21, signed with the Five Stripes as a Homegrown Player in July of 2019 and appeared for the club’s first team 36 times.

“George joined our Academy in 2016 and completed our player pathway to the First Team, proving he was ready for the challenge at each step in his development,” Atlanta United Vice President and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra said. “He has been a great professional and positive influence around the club and community. We want to thank George for his contributions to the club and wish him the best of luck in his future.”

With his maturation, it makes perfect sense to find a move for him to get more consistent playing time to help further his development. His place on the current Atlanta depth chart was tentative. Last season, Alan Franco and Juanjo Purata were the perennial starting center backs for Gonzalo Pineda and both will be returning for 2023. Couple that with Miles Robinson’s potential return from injury and the defense starts to get a bit crowded.

Making a deal to acquire some allocation money at this juncture helps the player continue his development and opens up some avenues for the club to improve in other areas of need.

What do you make of the trade? Sad to see George go? Does it make sense to you? Have your say below.