Official: Atlanta United sign Granada defender Luis Abram

Atlanta United on Thursday afternoon announced that it signed Peruvian center-back Luis Abram from Granada on a permanent transfer on a contract through December 2026.

Per usual club policy, financial terms were not disclosed, but according to Peruvian journalist Jorge Castillo, the transfer sum is worth about €300,000 with the Spanish club retaining a sell-on percentage.

“Luis is a talented center back who brings a lot of experience at both the club and international level at just 26 years old,” club vice president Carlos Bocanegra said in a statement. “We expect him to make an immediate impact on our backline and we’re excited to welcome him to the club.”

For the past couple of seasons, Abram has been on loan to Liga MX side Cruz Azul where he has 18 starts in 38 appearances. He averaged 1.30 blocks, 0.92 interceptions and 3.26 clearances per 90 with the Maquina Azul and helped them win the Mexican Super Cup in 2021.

Before being loaned to the Liga MX side, he had just 10 appearances for his parent club and played just over 600 minutes.

Prior to going overseas, Abram played at Velez Sarsfield, where he was teammates with Thiago Almada; prior to that, he was at Sporting Cristal in his native Peru. He was a regular starter for both teams and became a two-time Peruvian Champion with the latter.

Abram has 33 caps for the Peruvian national team including 14 friendlies, 11 World Cup qualifiers, and eight Copa America games.

Following Atlanta United’s transfer of Alan Franco to Sao Paulo, the Five Stripes looked to strengthen their back line ahead of the 2023 season. In Abram, they are getting a versatile defender that has also played as a left-back and a defensive midfielder as well as a skilled player with international experience. He’s likely to be Miles Robinson’s center-back partner with Juanjo Purata becoming depth.