U.S. national team defender Greg Garza will be playing professionally on home soil for the first time in his career.
As Goal USA reported earlier this week, the left back is headed to expansion side Atlanta United on loan from Club Tijuana. To bring in the 25-year-old, Atlanta had to acquire his discover rights and sent a conditional second-round selection in the 2018 MLS draft to do so.
Garza is from Grapevine, Texas, but went to Brazil at a young age and eventually joined the Sporting Lisbon academy. He secured a move from the Portuguese league to Liga MX after struggling for minutes at Estoril but was limited at Club Tijuana and during a loan stint at Atlas by injuries. After starting the 2016 Apertura as a Xolos starter, he suffered another injury and was unable to get his starting spot back as Tijuana secured a first-place finish in the regular season.
Now, Garza has the chance to earn a spot in Atlanta's starting XI under former Argentina manager Gerardo "Tata" Martino.
“Greg is a quality left back whose profile fits in nicely with our style of play,” Atlanta technical director Carlos Bocanegra said in a news release. “He has the ability to get up and down the line to contribute to both sides of the ball, and his experience in Mexico, along with the U.S. national team, brings another quality dimension to our team.”
He has nine national team caps, last representing the U.S. at the 2015 Gold Cup.
