Atlanta United signed defender Alex De John on March 12, 2021. De John played for Orlando City SC the last two seasons after spending six years in Europe. De John made his Atlanta United debut on on May 9 against Inter Miami CF in a 1-1 draw. His lone MLS start came on July 8 on the road at Nashville, where he finished the match despite suffering a broken elbow during the contest. De John also played three times for Atlanta United 2 in the USL Championship during the 2021 season.Â
De John, 29, was born in Marlboro, New Jersey and starred at Old Dominion University where he graduated in 2012. After college, De John signed with Ekenäs IF of Finland’s third division and made 26 appearances, all starts, while helping the club reach the play-offs for promotion. That offseason, he moved to Finland’s first division, signing with Turun Palloseura (TPS). There he made 28 appearances, all starts, in his first season in the Veikkausliiga. Â
De John moved to Norway for the 2015 season, signing with IK Start of the Eliteserien. He played there for two seasons with 41 league appearances and 34 starts. De John then moved to Dalkurd FF in Sweden in 2017, where he appeared in 20 matches while helping the club reach promotion to the Allsvenskan, the country’s top league, for the 2018 campaign. After six years with 125 career appearances overseas, De John joined Orlando City prior to the 2019 season. Over the last two years, De John has made 12 appearances with six starts.Â
2021 (Atlanta United): Made four appearances in MLS for Atlanta United including one start. Finished the season with 122 total minutes played. His club debut came on May 9 against Inter Miami, while his lone start of the MLS campaign was on the road at Nashville in a 2-2 draw on July 8. Atlanta United 2: Started all three matches he played for ATLUTD 2 in the USL Championship. Made 19 clearances and seven interceptions in the three matches. He won 22 of his 33 duels for ATLUTD 2.
