Atlanta City FC Has Its Rulebook. Richard Gunney Has a Year to Use It.
Taking Root: Richard Gunney brings experience across the NWSL's recruitment landscape as Atlanta prepares for its 2028 debut. The league's new expansion regulations create opportunities to build early, invest strategically, and establish a playing identity before the first match.
On January 25, 2016, Atlanta United announced the signing of goalkeeper Alexander Tambakis. The club wouldn't play its first Major League Soccer match for another 13 months, but it had already begun assembling its inaugural roster. Tambakis spent that year on loan with the Charleston Battery, continuing his development while Atlanta United prepared for its debut.
It was the first step in a process that would eventually bring Miguel Almirón, Josef Martínez, Héctor Villalba, Michael Parkhurst, Jeff Larentowicz, Julian Gressel, and others to Atlanta. Not all those players arrived at the same time, not all were acquired through the same mechanisms, and not every early signing became an important contributor. But Atlanta United understood something fundamental about building an expansion team: trying to assemble an entire roster in a single transfer window would create enormous pressure on every negotiation and personnel decision.
A decade later, Atlanta City FC has an opportunity to follow a similar timeline, although the rules governing its construction are considerably different. On October 30, the NWSL announced the expansion regulations for Atlanta City FC and Columbus, the two clubs preparing to enter the league in 2028. Atlanta can begin signing players on January 1, 2027, with special financial provisions and the ability to loan players during the year before its inaugural season.
The announcement establishes what Atlanta can do. The more interesting question is how the club will use those opportunities.
Richard Gunney officially begins his role as Atlanta City FC's chief soccer officer on November 1 and is scheduled to meet with the media Monday. His experience building recruitment operations, identifying talent, and working with an NWSL expansion team makes him particularly well suited to the challenge ahead. The decisions he makes over the next year will help determine what Atlanta City FC looks like when it finally takes the field.
Different leagues, different approaches
Having covered Atlanta United's roster construction from the beginning, I was struck by how collaborative the process turned out to be. Building an MLS expansion team required knowledge of several distinct player markets, along with an understanding of the league's complicated roster mechanisms. No single individual brought the same level of experience to every part of that process, but Atlanta United had assembled a group whose different areas of expertise complemented one another.
Darren Eales and Carlos Bocanegra brought their own backgrounds and relationships to the project, while Tata Martino added extensive international experience when he arrived in September 2016. Martino's influence could be seen in acquisitions such as Leandro González Pírez and Carlos Carmona, but he also understood the importance of relying on others within the organization who knew the domestic landscape. Players such as Michael Parkhurst, Jeff Larentowicz, and Alec Kann were acquired through a recruitment process that benefited from familiarity with MLS and its existing player pool. The club also had to navigate the expansion draft, SuperDraft, trades, and international transfers, making that combination of expertise particularly valuable.
Atlanta City FC faces a different set of regulations and recruitment mechanisms, but the most interesting difference may be the experience of the person leading its sporting operation. Richard Gunney arrives having already worked extensively across the player markets Atlanta will need to navigate. His time at Gotham FC gave him detailed knowledge of the NWSL's domestic talent pool and experience recruiting internationally, while his work evaluating college players and helping construct San Diego Wave's inaugural roster provides additional insight into identifying emerging talent and building a team from the beginning.
That breadth of experience gives Gunney an important advantage as Atlanta prepares to enter the NWSL. He understands the different player markets, the competition for talent, and the practical challenges of assembling a roster. He also brings firsthand knowledge of what has worked, and what hasn't, in recent roster construction around the league.
Atlanta City FC will undoubtedly have its own collaborative process, particularly once the inaugural head coach and recruitment staff are in place. But Gunney's experience across the domestic, international, and college markets creates the possibility of a roster-building operation guided more directly by one individual's comprehensive knowledge of the league and its talent landscape. That doesn't guarantee every acquisition will succeed, but it gives Atlanta an opportunity to begin with a sporting leader who already understands the different avenues available to build a competitive team.
Finding the right players
The NWSL no longer conducts expansion drafts or college drafts, meaning Atlanta City FC won't have the opportunity to select players from existing clubs through a league-administered process or acquire exclusive negotiating rights to college prospects. Every player Atlanta brings in will have to be recruited, with the club making a case for why joining an expansion team represents the right opportunity for that player's career. Identifying talent is only part of the challenge. Atlanta must also convince players to choose a club that has yet to play its first match over established teams with existing rosters, coaching staffs, and competitive track records.
That makes the ability to identify the right players, rather than simply the biggest names, especially important. Atlanta will need to evaluate not only a player's current ability but also her potential role in a team that won't begin competing until 2028. The club will be asking players to commit to a project whose identity is still taking shape, making the clarity of its vision and the relationships established during recruitment particularly valuable.
At Gotham, Gunney was involved in a recruitment operation that brought together established NWSL players, international talent, and emerging professionals. Players such as Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, and Emily Sonnett brought extensive experience within the league, while international acquisitions included Esther González, Jess Carter, and Gabi Portilho. The club also invested in emerging players, including Lilly Reale and Andrea Kitahata. Those acquisitions illustrate the range of markets Gotham pursued during Gunney's tenure rather than establishing his individual responsibility for every signing.
The important point for Atlanta is that Gunney understands how these different markets operate and how players with different backgrounds can fit together on a competitive roster. He also has experience identifying talent before it becomes widely established, something that could be particularly valuable in a league where Atlanta will be competing with existing clubs for every player it wants to sign.
Knowing which players are available is one thing. Understanding which players fit the team's intended style, represent good value, and can develop into important contributors is another. Atlanta's recruitment strategy should begin with those evaluations rather than simply identifying the most recognizable names available. Because Gunney will oversee the club's sporting philosophy and the hiring of its first head coach, those decisions have an opportunity to develop together.
The advantage of building early
Atlanta's ability to begin signing players in January 2027 is one of the most important elements of the expansion announcement. The league's regulations reinforce the value of taking a measured approach. Atlanta will operate under a limited salary cap of $628,320 in 2027 and won't be required to meet the usual minimum roster size during its pre-inaugural year. That gives the club room to make selective acquisitions without the obligation, or the financial capacity, to assemble a complete squad before 2028.
But not every stage of that process needs to serve the same purpose. I would approach 2027 in phases, beginning with opportunities to identify and evaluate potential contributors before moving toward the more substantial acquisitions that will establish the core of the inaugural team.
The first months of 2027 could be particularly useful for emerging players. Consider the college market, where players completing their eligibility at the end of the 2026 season will be entering the professional game. Without a college draft, Atlanta can compete to recruit those players directly. The club could identify a young player it believes has the potential to contribute in 2028, sign her during 2027, and arrange for her to continue playing elsewhere through a permitted loan.
That would give Atlanta an opportunity to evaluate her development in a professional environment before its inaugural season. A player who demonstrates that she's ready for the NWSL could become part of the initial roster, while another might need additional development or ultimately prove not to be the right fit. Those outcomes would still have to be managed within the player's contractual rights and league regulations. A loan doesn't turn a guaranteed contract into a risk-free trial, but it could provide valuable information before Atlanta makes its final roster decisions.
The same principle could apply to selected opportunities involving players already competing professionally. Rather than treating every early acquisition as a guaranteed starter in 2028, Atlanta could use the first part of 2027 to identify potential contributors and learn more about them. The initial signing period could be more speculative, allowing the club to pursue promising talent without committing its entire recruitment strategy to players who won't begin competing together for another year.
By the summer, the emphasis could shift toward establishing the foundation of the inaugural roster. The 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil will bring international attention to players and national teams from around the world, potentially creating opportunities as players consider their next moves. Atlanta's special transfer-fee provisions provide flexibility to pursue international acquisitions, although the league's 2027 registration-window dates have not yet been confirmed.
This is where I could see Atlanta moving toward one or two significant international signings, along with experienced NWSL players who can provide leadership and establish standards within the new team. The exact approach will depend on Gunney's recruitment priorities and the availability of players who fit them. A strong World Cup performance shouldn't become the sole reason to sign someone, but the tournament and broader international transfer market could create opportunities to make some of the club's most consequential acquisitions.
Atlanta's special $1.9 million transfer-fee threshold provides additional flexibility in pursuing those opportunities. The threshold is divided into phases, with an initial allowance available beginning in 2027 and additional flexibility becoming available in 2028. The provisions extend through the close of the secondary transfer window in 2028, allowing Atlanta to pursue qualifying transfers without the usual salary-cap charges until the applicable threshold is exceeded. It isn't money provided by the league or a limit on what Atlanta can spend, but it gives Gunney another tool as he evaluates when the right players might become available. The club doesn't have to make every major acquisition immediately after the World Cup, and that flexibility could prove valuable as the inaugural roster takes shape.
By the final months before the inaugural season, Atlanta should ideally have a clearer picture of its core players, coaching staff, and playing identity. That would allow the club to focus on completing the roster rather than building it from scratch, addressing positional depth, competition for starting roles, and specific needs identified by the coaching staff. Atlanta will also gain access to the NWSL's High Impact Player spending mechanism beginning January 1, 2028, creating additional compensation flexibility as the club prepares for its first season.
A phased approach would preserve opportunities to respond to the player market while reducing the pressure to complete every major transaction at once. It's an approach I would favor based on Atlanta United's experience, although we'll learn more Monday about whether Gunney envisions a similar timeline.
Using the financial flexibility wisely
The NWSL's expansion regulations give Atlanta several important financial tools, including a special $1.43 million expansion allocation money allowance, additional transfer-fee flexibility, and access to the High Impact Player mechanism beginning in 2028. Those provisions create opportunities, but they aren't interchangeable. The allocation money is funded by the club, the transfer-fee threshold isn't money being provided by the league, and the High Impact Player mechanism has its own eligibility requirements and timing restrictions. We've explained those distinctions in detail in our NWSL roster-building guide.
For Atlanta City FC, the strategic question is how to use the available resources across the entire construction process. A significant early investment could secure a foundational player, but it could also reduce the club's flexibility if another opportunity emerges later. Conversely, waiting too long could mean losing a player to an established club.
The same decisions apply to the composition of the roster. Does Atlanta invest heavily in a few players capable of becoming the team's centerpiece? Does it prioritize experienced professionals through the spine of the team? Or does it spread its resources more evenly across the squad? There isn't one universally correct answer. The best approach will depend on the playing identity Gunney establishes and the players available to execute it, which is why the sequence of recruitment decisions may matter as much as the individual acquisitions.
The playing identity should come first
One of the most important lessons from Atlanta United's inaugural roster construction is that the club didn't need a completed roster, or even a head coach, to know the kind of soccer it wanted to play. Ownership and club president Darren Eales established an ambition to play attacking, entertaining soccer before Martino arrived. That's a philosophy, not a tactical blueprint.
There's an important distinction between the two, one that often gets lost in conversations about how soccer teams play. A club's playing philosophy establishes its broad identity and ambitions, reflecting what the organization wants its soccer to represent. Tactics are the specific decisions made to implement that philosophy, from formations and approaches to building possession to pressing structures and adjustments for particular opponents.
An attacking philosophy doesn't automatically mean playing in a 4-3-3, building from the back in a particular way, or pressing high throughout every match. Different coaches can pursue attacking, entertaining soccer through different tactical approaches, and those approaches can change from one opponent to the next without abandoning the underlying philosophy.
That's the distinction Atlanta City FC faces as it begins building its first team. Ownership has already expressed an ambition to play entertaining, attacking soccer. Gunney's responsibility will include helping translate that broad philosophy into the club's sporting direction, selecting a head coach who shares those ambitions, and identifying players capable of contributing to that identity. But none of that requires Atlanta City FC to decide today which formation it will use in 2028 or exactly how it will build possession and organize its press. Those tactical decisions will belong to the coaching process and will evolve as the roster takes shape.
The experience of Atlanta United provides a useful comparison. Martino didn't arrive in 2016 and introduce the idea of attacking soccer to an organization that hadn't considered it. He helped turn an existing philosophical ambition into a more specific playing model, drawing on his experience and the players available to him.
Atlanta City FC has an opportunity to follow a similar progression. My expectation is that Gunney will establish the broad sporting philosophy, appoint a head coach whose ideas align with it, and work with that coach to assemble the majority of the inaugural roster. Some early acquisitions could happen before the coaching appointment, particularly if the club identifies young players or other opportunities it doesn't want to miss, but the eventual head coach should have significant input into the tactical characteristics and positional requirements of the completed squad.
Gunney's background in coaching, scouting, and recruitment could help connect those responsibilities without confusing them. The objective isn't to establish a formation or a fixed tactical system before the first player signs. It's to establish what Atlanta City FC wants to be, then hire the people and recruit the players who can bring that philosophy to life.
The next answers come Monday
The NWSL has established what Atlanta City FC can do, and beginning January 1, the club can start turning those opportunities into actual signings. But before the first player arrives, there are important decisions to make about the team's playing identity, recruitment priorities, coaching staff, and the timeline for assembling its inaugural roster.
Atlanta United's experience provides a useful reminder that building early doesn't mean building everything early. The most important acquisitions may arrive at different points in the process, and some early signings may develop into important contributors while others may not become part of the inaugural team. What matters is having a plan that allows those decisions to fit together.
Richard Gunney's background suggests he has the experience to establish that kind of structure. When he meets the media Monday, we'll have our first opportunity to hear how he intends to approach the challenge.
The NWSL has written the rulebook. Now Richard Gunney gets to decide what Atlanta City FC will look like when it takes the field.
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