Atlanta United Open Two U22 Initiative Spots By Loaning Out Franco Ibarra And Santiago Sosa

Atlanta United FC have opened up two U22 Initiative spots by loaning out defensive midfielders Franco Ibarra and Santiago Sosa. The club has loaned Ibarra to Rosario Central and Sosa to Racing Club, both in Argentina. This will be the second time that Atlanta has loaned out Ibarra, the club loaned him out during the second half of the 2023 MLS season to Toronto FC. The 22 year old has made 59 career appearances for Atlanta recording a total of 3,520 minutes played. During that time, Ibarra recorded 1 assist for the club. As for Sosa, he continued to see his role shrink with Atlanta over time. The 24 year old Sosa joined Atlanta in 2021, making a total of 70 appearances for the club. During his time there, he scored 2 goals and recorded 1 assist. 

It is clear that Atlanta no longer rate Ibarra or Sosa enough to keep them on the roster while filling U22 Initiative spots. Atlanta seems to be interested in moving past Ibarra and Sosa, opening up the spots for the likes of a newer younger talent. Atlanta also is clearing out their defensive midfield room after signing MLS veteran Dax McCarty and Bartosz Slisz from Legia Warsaw. Currently on the roster, Atlanta only has one U22 Initiative spot filled in Edwin Mosquera on the wing. I am interested to see what Garth Lagerway and Gonzalez Pineda do with these spots. Garth is one of the front office masterminds of MLS and these spots could be filled with some major talent in the near future.