Atlanta United FC has completed the signing of Brad Guzan on a multi-year deal, but the American will have to wait until July to join up with his new team. The signing comes after months of speculation but the deal won't officially go through until Guzan finishes the current Premier League campaign with Middlesbrough.

Guzan returns to MLS

Guzan, who joined Premier League side Middlesbrough at the beginning of the season, will officially join Atlanta in the summer and will likely start for the new MLS side immediately.

The 32-year old returns to Major League Soccer since departing for England in 2008. Guzan was the number two overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft and after four seasons with the now defunct Chivas USA, he made the switch to England for nine seasons before agreeing to a deal to return to MLS this summer. 

With just five appearances under his belt at Middlesbrough, the move comes at the right time for Guzan as he aims to hold onto his starting job with the United States national team.

Atlanta continue big offseason

Atlanta United have been active ahead of their inaugural season in Major League Soccer and after announcing the signing of Brad Guzan, the club confirmed the arrival of two loan signings. Anton Walkes, a 19-year old English defender from Tottenham's youth academy has joined Atlanta for the season while Leandro Gonzalez Pirez has completed a loan move from Estudiantes

Anton Walkes already in action during preseason training | Source: @ATLUTD
Anton Walkes already in action during preseason training | Source: @ATLUTD

Atlanta also completed the signing of veteran English defender Tyrone Mears from the Seattle Sounders earlier in the week. It's been an eventful week for the new MLS club and after a successful offseason under Tata Martino, Atlanta could be set to surprise a few in their debut season with plenty of big names and young stars in their ranks.

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About the author
Harry  Harris
Covering the Premier League, Bundesliga and NFL. Writing for VAVEL since May 2014. Chelsea FC and Atlanta sports.