The quick, radiant smile still gleams, lighting up whatever room he’s in. The humble persona remains, too, refreshingly free of any visible signs of ego or airs. Even the haircut looks almost identical to the one he sported six years ago when he swapped Atlanta United’s black and red stripes for Newcastle United’s black and white Magpie kit.
Miguel Almirón officially made his return to the ATL on Friday, and it was almost like he never left.
“I think from the moment that I left the airport here to go to Newcastle [in 2019], it was something that I spoke to my wife about, the possibility of coming back here, I think above all for the connection that I have with the fans and with the city,” the Paraguayan playmaker said in Spanish in a well-attended afternoon press conference following his reported $10 million-plus transfer from NUFC.
“I feel like I'm home,” he added in a subsequent roundtable discussion with national reporters.
“The fans in Newcastle also treated me really well. I think it's the same level of affection that I've received from both fan bases. I'm always going to be grateful to the Newcastle fans for that, for my time during my six years there. But that's the same kind of respect and affection that I feel from the fans here in Atlanta.”
Premier League-proven
There’s undeniable romance to this reunion, an emotional reconnecting with a chief protagonist of ATLUTD’s euphoric early years in MLS, when they charmed a previously soccer-wary city and shifted even how the league perceived itself.
Almirón, Josef Martínez and coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino will always be demigods in the capital of the South, thanks not only to the 2018 MLS Cup they won but the freewheeling, high-scoring style in which they did so. That chapter clearly left a legacy in the hearts of all involved – and for Almirón, the sensation of coming back is heightened by the presence of his son Francesco, who turns 4 in June, this time around.
“My wife and I loved the city, and we had a great experience here,” he explained. “What I missed most was just the affection from the fan base and the respect. So now that I'm back with my son and the rest of my family, I'm looking forward to being able to share that with him -- like when you're in public and you go out to a restaurant, those kind of encounters with the fans are really special.”
As many heartstrings as they tug on, such homecomings don’t always pan out. But for ATLUTD, this was a blockbuster signing for both head AND heart, with new coach Ronny Deila deeming Almirón well-suited to the assertive, up-tempo game model he’s installing in the Five Stripes.
“Miguel comes with over 200 games in the Premier League; international [duty with] Paraguay. He is going to bring energy to the team. When we assessed the team and what we needed, Miguel checked every box,” said Atlanta’s new chief soccer officer/sporting director Chris Henderson. “He's going to help us pressing; Designated Players in this league come in and they need to make players around them better, and that's what he does every time he plays.
“And when Ronny and I had the call with Miguel, you could just feel his love and passion for soccer. He's a happy guy. He loves to play, and you can see that in the way he play, and the work that he brings every single day is very contagious for teammates.”
"Still the same Miguel"
Club president Garth Lagerwey noted that the regard he and Henderson hold for the Paraguayan runs even deeper than his salad days in ATL. Henderson, he explained, first scouted Almirón nearly a decade ago, when he and Lagerwey were working together at Seattle Sounders FC, who would eventually trade their discovery rights to Atlanta ahead of the then-expansion side’s 2017 MLS debut.
All three of them are now older, wiser and fully aware of both what it takes to win hardware in the league, and how very high the expectations are for this year’s Five Stripes squad.
“I don't think I've changed a lot. I think I'm still young. I think I'm still the same Miguel, the same will to compete, the same will to win, but now I'm going to have to work doubly as hard just to repay all the confidence that the team and the fans have in me,” said Almirón.
“The six years that I was in England, that experience helped. I think I've matured, and I'll try to use that experience, I'll try to bring that to the group here, to try to help the group in the ways that I can.”
Much has changed around ATLUTD, who wandered into the wilderness not long after Almirón’s departure, with a trophy drought now running beyond five years since their 2019 US Open Cup title.
He knows he’s viewed as the star man who can push them over the top, and he’s ready to embrace it.
“When I arrived the first time, I was very happy, also because we were starting a new project. So we felt a great responsibility as players to be a part of that,” said Almirón. “But now here today, I think I'm more happy to be back and to be able to share these moments with my family, but at the same time also with an increased responsibility to help this team.”
