Atlanta United All-Star transferring to Brazilian club for MLS-record fee

ATLANTA — An Atlanta United star has made his last goal at Mercedes-Benz stadium.

The club announced on Saturday that midfielder Thiago Almada is being transferred to Brazilian club Botafogo for an undisclosed fee that breaks Major League Soccer records.

Almada, 23, joined Atlanta United in February 2022 for a reported $16 million, which, at the time, also broke MLS records.

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While in Atlanta, he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina and was named a 2023 MLS All-Star.

In 2022, he was named the MLS Newcomer of the Year and the MLS Young Player of the Year in 2023.

“We spent more than a year recruiting Thiago to join Atlanta United and during that process, we agreed that our club could provide a great platform to showcase his abilities and he would have the opportunity to continue his development until the time was right for him to move on to the next challenge,” vice president and technical director Carlos Bocanegra said in a release.

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Atlanta United posted video tributes to Almada on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday after the announcement.

In one, he reads a letter he wrote to fans and club staff thanking him for the time he spent here.

“I never thought that so many people who don’t know me could give me so much love,” he says in Spanish. “Thank you for these years together and for all your magic.”

Next up, Almada is set to captain Argentina’s national football team in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

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