Atlanta United president Darren Eales took the occasion of a video interview with a local broadcaster to poke a little fun with the transfer rumor makers on Monday.
Speaking with FOX 5's Justin Felder, Eales made the "oversight" of leaving his transfer "target list" on the whiteboard behind him over his right shoulder. On it? None other than European-based superstars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann.
(A fifth target, Matt Moore, concluded the list. It's unclear if that is in reference to the recently retired backup NFL quarterback of the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, the right-handed MLB pitching veteran, or the club's director of digital and broadcast operations.)
The famous quartet have at intervals all been connected in the press to an eventual move to MLS, often with a particular focus on Inter Miami CF, in part because another star of similar stature, David Beckham, is the club's co-owner.
With Miami perhaps threatening Atlanta's reputation as the most glamorous and biggest spending of the Eastern Conference clubs, maybe Eales' tongue-in-cheek reveal was targeted at a particular British compatriot.
Or who knows, maybe the Five Stripes are thinking really big? Like 60.1 lifetime completion %, 5.4 career wins above replacement big.
