Brek Shea’s first season with defending MLS Cup champions Atlanta United is over, as the club announced Tuesday that he’ll undergo season-ending surgery to repair a right knee injury.
Shea suffered the injury in last weekend’s 2-1 loss at the Seattle Sounders, a match he was substituted from after seven minutes. He’s set to go on the Five Stripes’ season-ending injury list.
To this point, the 29-year-old had featured in 19 league matches for Atlanta and started 10. He has one assist on the year, having been signed as a free agent back on Dec. 30, 2018.
Shea was recently a Designated Player for the Vancouver Whitecaps, where he spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The one-time US men’s national team midfielder also spent 2015-16 at Orlando City SC, plus began 2008-12 at FC Dallas after emerging from the US Soccer’s now-defunct residency program in Brandenton, Fla.
In between Dallas and Orlando, Shea spent two years on the books of then-Premier League side Stoke City FC. He, however, earned the bulk of his minutes on loan at lower-league clubs Barnsley and Birmingham City.
