Atlanta United’s squad for the 2023 season won’t include the best players in the franchise’s history. According to The Athletic, the MLS side decided to part ways with the forward Josef Martinez after this season.
Reportedly, Martinez recently met with United’s technical director Carlos Bocanegra, who informed the 29-year-old player that his time with the club has come to an end. However, it is unclear how will the split between the two sides look like.
Martinez has a DP contract that runs through 2023 and guarantees him a $3.75 million base salary. Atlanta will either have to work out a mutual termination agreement with the player or trade him. The latter might be quite complicated, considering the Venezuelan has a no-trade clause.
Atlanta United signed Josef Martinez on a loan deal ahead of their inaugural MLS season in 2017, and the move proved to be an exceptional piece of business. Martinez scored five goals in his first three games in MLS, prompting Atlanta to lock him into a DP deal right away.
Martinez would go on to score 88 goals in his first three seasons with the club while being named MLS MVP in 2018. He also helped Atlanta win MLS Cup in the same year and Campeones Cup the following season.
Martínez’s prolific run came to a halt in the first game of the 2020 season when he suffered a torn ACL that ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign. After returning from injury, he never managed to rediscover his old form, and this is probably why Atlanta wants to move on from him at this point.
