Atlanta United unveiled an injection of veteran leadership Monday.
It came in the form of two center back signings, Paraguayan Júnior Alonso and Chilean Paulo Díaz. Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson spoke alongside the two ATL newcomers Monday morning. It was a moment for the players to state their cases: Why Atlanta United? What do you bring to the table? What are you going to do to steady the side?
Some, especially younger players, would take an introductory presser as an opportunity to be more grandiose. Not these two. Alonso and Díaz — ages 33 and 31, respectively — know the rigors of professional football. They know things don't come easy, and they didn't come in with any exaggeration. Just motivation.
"I think MLS is growing every year," Alonso said in Spanish Monday. "I think it's getting more competitive every year. I want to thank Atlanta for the opportunity to come and play here and be part of this project."
"I've had the desire to come compete in this league for a while now, but when I spoke to Tata about the project, he made that desire grow even more," Díaz said in Spanish Monday. "To be able to come here, [I want to] help compete and help the team get to where it wants to be."
Henderson and head coach Tata Martino have spoken at length about their collaboration in signing new players, and these two are a prime example. Both have connections to Martino and Atlanta United in one way or another.
Alonso played as a practice squad player for Paraguay's 2011 Copa América side, led at the time by Martino. Díaz's previous stop was River Plate, adding to Atlanta United's already numerous connections with the Argentinian club. There, he played alongside Leandro Gonzales Pirés, a former 5-Stripe and part of the club's 2018 MLS Cup winning side.
But the connections run even deeper. Alonso, who featured as a regular starter for Paraguay during the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, had another source of confidence in his decision: Miguel Almirón.
"Obviously, I spoke to Miguel, who I know well, who's my friend, who I've known for a long time, my national team teammate," Alonso said. "Speaking with Tata as well, and hearing about the project ... We know the situation that the team is in right now, but we want to help the team continue and improve."
Both players are with the team, and though Henderson affirmed Díaz is still finishing up his visa process, the club is hopeful to have them both out on the pitch soon. The two took in Atlanta United's match against Nashville SC Friday.
"I think you know you saw in the game that the team played really well but unfortunately the result didn't go along with the performance," Alonso said. "But I think compared to the previous games, you saw an improved performance, and I think as players, we'll try to do our part to try to help the team to continue improving."
Bringing these new acquisitions into the fold is as much about their on-field presence as it is their off-field demeanor. Henderson was vocal about their years of experience at different clubs around the world being pivotal to their roles as leaders in the locker room.
"In soccer there are no secrets, so it all comes down to just hard work," Alonso said. "I think it's about changing the mentality, but it's about doing it every day, starting in training, being more demanding of ourselves, and being more demanding of our teammates."
“I think it’s about the day-to-day," Díaz said. "Having a positive mentality, energy to keep moving forward and be positive. Obviously, that also helps the team to gain confidence and compete in a good way. If we compete in training, later it translates to the games and that will be most beneficial for the team and help us win the most points that we can.”
Especially for a side in Atlanta United that has enjoyed a surge of young, Homegrown talent coming through its academy, having veterans like Alonso and Díaz is all the more crucial.
"We know that the club today has many young players who must learn about concepts, situations in the game," Alonso said. "They have a lot of energy, but they need to be guided, so for us with more experience we have to transmit that. When to press, when to wait, in what moment to speed up the game. Things that you learn as you play more games, and as they don’t have that yet, so those of us who have more experience have the obligation to be able to guide them in those moments.”
The job is not finished for Henderson and his team. According to the Sporting Director, the 5-Stripes are positioning themselves to make more additions.
"We are working on other signings to add," Henderson said. "We are in good conversations on multiple positions further up the field. As I said before, some of those combinations are some outgoing players at the same time as some incoming players, and we'll see some of those announcements in the next few weeks."
