The first player in Atlanta United’s history is Alexander Tambakis, a 23-year-old goalkeeper from Greece.
Tambakis, who recently was on the roster at Panathinaikos in Greece, will go on loan in February to Charleston, Atlanta United’s USL affiliate, for the 2016 season. Terms of the contract weren’t disclosed. Atlanta United, owned by Arthur Blank, will begin play in MLS in 2017.
“We hope it’s something our fans can rally around and realize the season is coming,” team technical director Carlos Bocanegra said. “But it’s one piece of the puzzle. There are 27 more roster spots to fill but it’s good to get one in the books.”
Tambakis, 6-2, joined Panathinaikos in 2011 and went on loan to Niki Volos before rejoining Panathinaikos. He has played 363 minutes since 2011-12, according to the website scoresway.com
Bocanegra said Atlanta United’s scouting system found Tambakis and was able to scout him in person. Bocanegra said Tambakis has a lot of potential, good size, is commanding in the goal and excited to join MLS.
“He’s a very young goal keeper,” Bocanegra said. “We see him as a project but one who can definitely come in and have the upside we are looking for.”
The team will continue to sign players in the coming months, but Bocanegra said they won’t come close to filling the 28-man roster by the summer. Some, possibly not all, of those players may go on loan to Charleston.
MLS teams have eight international slots on each roster. The slots are tradeable, so that teams can have more than eight international players. Tambakis has dual Greek-American citizenship becuase his mother is American, so he won't count against Atlanta United's international roster slots. Bocanegra said Atlanta United will continue to search domestically and internationally for players.
“We have to build the roster and have some depth at every position,” Bocanegra said. “We expect guys to compete and put players around them. that is how we are approaching it.”
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