Brek Shea out for season with torn ACL; Atlanta United reportedly acquire Mo Adams

According to The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio, Brek Shea’s injury on Sunday against the Seattle Sounders was much worse than originally feared. According to Tenorio, Shea sustained a torn ACL in his knee, which Atlanta coach Frank de Boer confirmed in this morning’s training. The 29-year-old will miss the remainder of the MLS season.

Shea is likely headed to Atlanta’s season-ending injury list, meaning that the club would then receive roster relief in the form of a roster slot as Shea would not count toward the 30-man limit.

It wasn’t the only news Tenorio had, as he is also reporting that Atlanta United have acquired Chicago Fire midfielder Mo Adams. The 22-year-old Englishman holds a green card and will not take up Atlanta’s remaining international slot. A former teammate of Miles Robinson’s at Syracuse University, Adams was taken tenth overall by the Fire in the 2018 SuperDraft. He has played 25 games with Chicago with 5 starts, but has not appeared since a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake on June 22.

During Tuesday’s training, de Boer did not confirm the move, but did state that there was interest in bringing him in.

It will be interesting to see how Adams will be designated if, in fact, he is brought on board by Atlanta United. If he is brought on as an injury replacement, Atlanta would still be responsible for Shea’s salary budget charge (according to MLS roster rules), but Adams’ salary, which the club would pick up, wouldn’t count toward the budget. It’s also likely that Atlanta were already looking to acquire Adams before Shea’s injury, but in either case he essentially won’t take up a roster spot for the reasons mentioned earlier.