Position: Defensive midfielder
2021 League Games: 25 appearances, 25 starts (2,189 minutes)
What went right in 2021
The arrival of Santiago Sosa almost exactly a year ago filled a large, defensive midfielder sized hole in Atlanta United’s roster. Brought in under MLS’ new U22 player initiative, Sosa’s rumored six million dollar transfer from River Plate didn’t require him to take up a Designated Player spot, bolstering the quality of the roster as one of the major additions of the ill-fated Heinze experiment. Sosa locked down his role in the lineup early on, and retained his starting position under Rob Valentino and then Gonzalo Pineda as the midseason coaching fiasco played out.