OFFICIAL: Atlanta United acquire Mo Adams from Chicago Fire, waive Gordon Wild

Atlanta United announced today that it has acquired midfielder Mo Adams from the Chicago Fire in exchange for $100,000 in general allocation money. The news was first reported by Paul Tenorio yesterday, while he revealed the precise terms this morning. Atlanta also announced that midfielder Gordon Wild has been waived by the club.

“Mo is a talented young player with the ability to play multiple positions for us,” club vice president Carlos Bocanegra said in a statement. “We like his versatility and his competitiveness will serve us well moving into the second half of the season.”

Adams, a native of Nottingham, England, was chosen No. 10 overall by the Chicago Fire in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft out of Syracuse University, where he played for a season with current Atlanta centerback Miles Robinson. In two seasons with Chicago, he played 25 games (starting 15), but hasn’t started since playing 45 minutes against Real Salt Lake on June 22. During yesterday’s post-training media availability, Frank de Boer mentioned that Adams could be used in a few different ways despite primarily playing midfield.

I think he also has the qualities of a fullback, with his pace and aggressiveness...Maybe he’s not the guy who will go down the line 100 times like Franco (Escobar) can do, but I think he can still do a decent job. So I think we can rotate him, if the deal is done, with certain positions.

From a roster compliance standpoint, Adams has a green card and will not take up Atlanta United’s remaining international slot; the club will still have an open roster slot as Brek Shea has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a leg injury and won’t count toward the 30-man roster as a result.

As for Wild, his Atlanta United tenure comes to an end after he was selected 37th by Atlanta in the 2018 SuperDraft. The German had appeared primarily with ATL UTD 2 as a midfielder and fullback but never played with the first team despite landing in the gameday roster on a number of occasions. While he would probably have been a good candidate to get some playing time on a injury-riddled defense, it appears to be more that he wasn’t a fit for what Frank de Boer was ultimately looking to do.