Atlanta United president Garth Lagerway took exception to a question asked of him in early February. Asked about the "miracle" upset that was Atlanta's knockout of favored Inter Miami in the first round of the 2024 MLS playoffs, Lagerway made it clear that the club's next playoff win - and he's sure that there will be one - won't be considered so seismic.
"I was like, 'OK, what would it take for it not to be a miracle that we win in the playoffs?' " Lagerway told GOAL. "Maybe, we get to the point where we're expected to win in the playoffs and we're favored to win."
That's exactly what Atlanta have done. It has been a chaotic 12 months for the club. They sold their three best players last summer, letting Caleb Wiley, Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis go for a combined $43 million - the most lucrative trio of outgoings in MLS history. Instead of plummeting to the depths of MLS, they stayed afloat, beat Lionel Messi and Miami in the first round of playoffs, and showed that there is enough to work with here to make something special.
The logical next move, though, was to reinvest - and push back towards the top. The good news was the plan was already in place. Atlanta needed a striker, and, ideally, two other attacking players. Aleksey Miranchuk was taken care of in August. The two other newcomers were sorted within a month of the offseason.
"We were actually able to deploy the capital then more quickly that even than I thought we would be able to," Lagerway says.
The other two - former Middlesborough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath and returning hero Miguel Almiron - would seem to take Atlanta from fringe playoff contenders to among the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Throw in a new sporting director, Chris Henderson, formely of Inter Miami. Add a head coach who has won MLS before, Ronny Deila, coming off two separate stints in the Belgian top flight. And suddenly, this is a team that has a legitimate shot to win it all.
But what seems a hurried process has actually been a calculated. Some of these names have been on Atlanta's radar for a year.
"What I would say is we track players, usually for six to 12 months," he said. "The thing for MLS teams is what we want ideally, is players that are running down toward the end of their contract, because then you get a more favorable economic deal."
So much for that. Almiron and Latte Lath were bank-breaking moves. Add them together and the club spent over $30 million - Latte Lath is a new MLS transfer record signing. But he turned down Premier League offers to come. Atlanta have a proper player on their hands. So yes, it does break precedent. But Atlanta had money to spend, an owner who encouraged reinvestment, and a top-down model to make this all work. That playoff "miracle" should the same result occur might not be such a surprise.
Ahead of the MLS season, Lagerway talked about Atlanta's busy offseason, how they signed Almiron, and why this could be their year in the latest GOAL Convo.
