Eastern Conference: Most intriguing offseason moves so far

We’re in the thick of transfer season, though not everybody’s been busy. Some teams have, however, and of that group, here are the moves that have got me thinking a little bit.

Eastern Conference is below, and soon we’ll do the Western Conference.

Atlanta United are going to have three true Designated Players, of course. Alexey Miranchuk is already there – he was signed last summer, and lots of reporting suggests he’s about to be joined by faces familiar and not. That’s where the headlines will be.

Deeper in midfield, though, Atlanta snagged what’s essentially a fourth DP for this coming season when they acquired Polish international Mateusz Klich from D.C. United for the 23rd pick in last month’s SuperDraft and up to $50,000 in 2026 conditional General Allocation Money (payable if Atlanta re-sign Klich). They acquired him for essentially nothing and only have to cover $300k of his salary, as per The Washington Post.

Here’s a graph from the press release announcing the deal, plus a quote from new Atlanta chief soccer officer Chris Henderson:

D.C. retain a percentage of Klich’s salary charge and his Designated Player roster spot. The 34-year-old Polish international won’t be a DP for Atlanta.

“He’s had two quality seasons in MLS since joining the league in 2023. He’s a good chance creator, while also being able to dictate the tempo of a game from the middle of the pitch. We believe his qualities and leadership will be a good addition to our midfield.”

Yeah, you read that right: Klich will occupy a DP slot for D.C. United, but he will be playing for Atlanta United.

I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around the budget mechanics of this (D.C. chief soccer officer Ally Mackay is no dummy, so I’m sure there’s a good reason here), but the functional outcome is Atlanta are adding a DP-caliber, deeper-lying orchestrator and playmaker behind Miranchuk, which in theory frees up the Russian international to focus more on pure creation than he did last year. Klich is not exactly prime Xavi out there, but he gets on the ball a lot: 85th percentile in progressive passes received, 76th percentile in passes attempted and 78th percentile…