Atlanta United on verge of announcing USL partner

Atlanta United may announce its USL affiliation as soon as next week, team president Darren Eales said on Tuesday while attending the MLS combine in Carson, Calif. Eales declined to say who the partner may be.

The club was affiliated with Charleston (S.C.) in 2016. Several players, including goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, midfielder Andrew Carleton and forward Jeffrey Otoo spent time with the Battery. Other academy players made spot appearances with the club.

The USL was considered the third division in the U.S. soccer hierarchy, but was recently granted provisional second-division status by the United States Soccer Federation.

Twenty-one MLS teams had affilations, or partnered with, USL teams in 2016. The affiliations/partnerships are typically used to give inexperienced players a place to get playing time.

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