According to Atlanta United president and CEO Garth Lagerwey, there's a palpable buzz in the city ahead of their 2025 season.
Helping fuel that excitement?
The arrival of Emmanuel Latte Lath, Atlanta's next Designated Player striker following his transfer from EFL Championship side Middlesbrough FC for a reported MLS-record $22 million plus add-ons.
"We couldn't be more excited that he chose us," Lagerwey said at Wednesday's introductory press conference, where he was joined by Latte Lath and sporting director Chris Henderson.
"We believe that signing him reflects our global ambition to become one of the bigger clubs in the world. And to have a record signing next to us from one of the best leagues in the world really gets us fired up for what the potential of this season is and what the potential for this team is."
The 26-year-old Ivory Coast international immediately becomes a leading face of Atlanta's transformative offseason, which also saw them re-unite with club legend Miguel Almirón on a transfer from Newcastle United.
"Obviously they spent a lot of money for me; this everybody knows, I know it," Latte Lath said. "But I don't want to put pressure on me because for me pressure is a lot of other things. So I just need to play football and be focused and try to do the good things every Saturday, every training. That's it.
"... They started to talk with me, they showed me the project and for me, it was really easy to come here because how they've built, how they told me about the project," he added. "I'm a guy, I'm 26 years old, but I want to win something."
Known for his blistering speed, Latte Lath enjoyed a prolific stint at Middlesbrough by racking up 29 goals in 67 all-competition appearances. Now, he's set to partner in attack with Almirón, midfielder Alexey Miranchuk and winger Saba Lobjanidze.
As Atlanta chase a return to their glory days, Lagerwey said Latte Lath's presence will also contribute to a culture shift within the club. His first chance to prove it comes Saturday against CF Montréal (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+).
"He's had success in multiple countries, has a consistent track record of scoring goals, is a hard worker so we can replicate the best training environment possible," Lagerwey said. "He's a very humble person.
"... What we've done here too is we went out and signed an awesome player and he's got those metrics and those things to support. But we had to change the culture in our team, and this gentleman's a big part of changing that culture as well. "
