ATLANTA, GEORGIA —The Atlanta United FC has decided to loan forward Erik López to Club Atlético Banfield of the Argentine Primera División until the end of June with an option to extend the loan through the end of the calendar year.
On February 23, the team said they still retain López’s contract rights beyond this season.
Sources said Banfield’s schedule begins in February when they compete in the Copa de Liga Professional.
The Argentine domestic cup competition will run until the end of May. The Argentine Primera Division league season will run from June to October.
López joined ATL UTD 2 on loan from Paraguayan side Olimpia in July 2020. The following January, López joined Atlanta United’s first team on a permanent transfer. The forward made 18 appearances including 10 starts last season. He scored his first MLS goal on May 29 against Nashville. López also made two starts for Atlanta in Concacaf Champions League action.
Before joining Atlanta, López had spent his entire career at Olimpia. He started in the youth ranks and made his senior team debut in 2019. López has also represented Paraguay at the U-23 level, most recently in Olympic Qualifying for the 2021 Tokyo games.
Before the loan of Lopez, on February 22, the hard work of veteran Major League Soccer striker Dom Dwyer in training with United FC has yielded positive results.
United FC officially announced o its website that it has signed Dwyer to a contract through the end of the 2023 season with two additional club option years.
The signing of Dwyer is a huge lift for United FC since he is an 11-year MLS veteran that brings over 200 career appearances and 83 career goals to the club after playing with Toronto FC, Orlando City SC, and Sporting KC.
“Dom is a veteran striker who knows what it takes to win in this league,” Atlanta United Vice President and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra said.
“He has fit into the group well in the time he has spent with us and will be an addition to our attacking group,” Bocanegra added.
Dwyer has been in MLS since 2012 when he made his debut for Sporting KC. The following season he scored his first career MLS goal and then had a breakout campaign in 2014. The Cuckfield, England-born striker scored 22 goals in 33 matches for Sporting KC, finishing second in the MLS Golden Boot race. Dwyer followed that up with seasons of 12 goals and 16 goals to give him three-straight double-digit goal seasons in Kansas City before a trade to Orlando in 2017.
In Orlando, Dwyer picked up where he left off scoring four goals and adding four assists in just 12 matches to close out the 2017 season. The striker tallied 20 goals and four assists in the two following seasons in Orlando. Dwyer suffered a season-ending injury in June 2020, which marked the end of his Orlando career. Last season, Dwyer played in 14 matches with six starts for Toronto. He has 209 career regular-season appearances and has tallied 81 goals and 19 assists. Dwyer has also played in nine MLS Cup Playoff matches and scored twice.
Dwyer became eligible to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team in March 2017 and has made four career appearances, scoring in his first two caps with the national team later that summer.
