Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi Jul 27, 2024; South Bend, IN, USA; Chelsea goalie Robert Sanchez (1) clears the ball as Celtic player Kyogo Furuhashi pressures in the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
By Reice Shipley on

On Wednesday, fans of the Atlanta United FC were given some exciting news via an announcement from the MLS that they would be bringing in Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi.

But shortly after, the announcement was deleted and the news was debunked, prompting an apology.

In a statement to ESPN, MLS detailed how they came upon the false report and apologized for the mistake.

“Major League Soccer’s website mistakenly posted an article that named the wrong player as having signed with an MLS club,” the league said in a statement. “The article was immediately removed and corrected. MLS extends its sincere apologies to the impacted parties.”

The obvious question following this kind of mistake is how could something like this get misinterpreted.

Before Wednesday’s announcement, Furuhashi had been linked to Atlanta United in a report from Daily Mail last month, which detailed that a $12 million transfer offer was made for the 29-year-old forward.  And Atlanta did recently bring in Ronny Deila as their new manager. He has a connection as a past manager of Furuhashi’s current club.

What may have complicated matters further is that Atlanta United had been teasing an announcement for the past couple of days on social media prior to the MLS announcement on Wednesday.

Ultimately, they did bring in a transfer on Thursday but it was Cayman Togashi, a forward who played for Sagan Tosu of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League in Japan. 

On paper, it sure seems like it would be difficult for the MLS to “mistake” these two players considering they played in two entirely different leagues. It’s not like the Meiji Yasuda J1 League and the Scottish Premiership is all that close in proximity.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley