Atlanta United set to complete deal to sign Scottish Premiership man

Atlanta United are set to sign Ronald Hernandez from Aberdeen

Atlanta United are set to sign Ronald Hernandez from Aberdeen. Gabriel Heinze is swooping to sign the left-back from the Scottish Premiership side to boost his defensive department, according to a report by Michael Gannon of the Daily Record. The Five Stripes are poised to fork out a fee of £800,000 to bring him to America.

Hernandez, who is 23 years old, only joined Aberdeen in December 2020 but is being allowed to leave after just 12 months. Derek McInness’ side are letting him leave for Atlanta, with whom they have a ‘strategic partnership’ with. The young full-back was believed to be homesick and the Dons have no problem with letting him be closer to family, despite him only being 12 months into the four-and-a-half-year contract he signed at Pittodrie Stadium.

"McInnes has said:  “We allowed Ronald to go home after the Kilmarnock game. We’re sympathetic to the fact he had only seen his family one day while he was on international duty in a calendar year. It proved a real challenge to try to get him home as flights were being cancelled left, right and centre.”"

Hernandez started his career in his native Venezuela at Zamora and broke into their first-team as a youngster before moving to Norway in 2017 to join Stabaek. He then spent three years in Scandinavia and played 56 times in the Eliteserien before his move to Aberdeen.

Atlanta had a disappointing past 2020 season and will be hoping for much better next year. These are exciting times under their new boss, Heinze, and Hernandez could prove to be a shrewd long-term signing.