Atlanta United announced on Sunday that their star forward Josef Martinez suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. This will most likely rule out Martinez for the remainder of 2020.
Martinez suffered the injury in Atlanta’s first match of the new MLS season against Nashville SC. The 26-year-old Venezuelan was injured in the 63rd minute of the contest when he attempted to make a challenge on Nashville’s defender Dave Romney.
According to Atlanta’s statement, the date for Martinez’s surgery will be determined at a later date.
Josef Martinez was one of the best players in the league since joining Atlanta United in 2017. After scoring 19 goals in just 20 games in his first year in MLS, Martinez broke the record for most goals by netting 31 goals in 34 games in 2018. He followed that up with helping Atlanta win MLS Cup in the same season.
Martinez had a monster year in 2019 as well, scoring 27 goals in 29 games en route to being selected to his third straight MLS Best XI and second consecutive MLS All-Star appearance.
