A representative for American goalkeeper Josh Cohen, who is currently without a club, says Atlanta United violated MLS rules while trying to sign the player, in a complaint the league reviewed and verified. to The Athletic. After this story was published Wednesday, an MLS spokesperson spoke The Athletic that no rule has been broken.
In MLS, unattached players must be signed through the discovery process. In the discovery process, each MLS team maintains a list (the “discovery list”) of up to seven players that it has priority rights to sign before any other MLS team. Teams can negotiate an agreement with the player or trade the player’s discovery rights to another club.
Cohen, 31, is on Atlanta United’s discovery list, and has agreed to join the club after spending the past four years in Israel with Maccabi Haifa, where he appeared in the UEFA Champions League, winning three league titles. and was named the 2020 -21 Footballer of the Year in Israel. Cohen’s contract expires this summer and the goalkeeper wants to pursue opportunities in MLS or elsewhere.
The 2023 MLS roster rules state that a team must make “a genuine, reasonable offer” to keep a player on their discovery list within three days if another MLS club offered $50,000 in total allocation money for the player’s discovery rights. The MLS position is that Atlanta United made Cohen such an offer.
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In the complaint, Cohen’s representatives say Atlanta offered a deal well below market value for Cohen. The complaint did not specify whether another club offered Atlanta the required allocation money.
According to the complaint, Atlanta’s final contract proposal to Cohen before the MLS roster freeze on Sept. the weather. With Atlanta holding onto his rights, Cohen cannot negotiate with other MLS clubs even if out of contract.
The complaint requests that MLS remove Cohen from Atlanta’s discovery list, and also states that they will not negotiate with Atlanta in the future.
Atlanta United issued the following statement: “We are aware of the complaint but, per club policy, we do not comment on contract negotiations or an ongoing complaint.”
Cohen can still sign abroad now, as free agents are not obligated to transfer in closing windows, but if he wants to continue in MLS, he will have to wait until the winter before 2024. season because the roster freeze date has passed for the 2023 season.
Cohen made six appearances in the Champions League group stage last year with Maccabi Haifa and was included in a US national team camp in June. He won three league titles with Haifa and was named Footballer of the Year after the 2020-21 season in Israel. He made 161 appearances with Haifa after arriving in 2019. He previously appeared for Sacramento Republic in the USL Championship.
(Photo: John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images)