January 18, 2022
Atlanta United announced today it has signed Caleb Wiley to a Homegrown contract through the 2025 season with a club option for 2026. Wiley has been with the Atlanta United Academy since its inaugural season and has played significant minutes with Atlanta United 2 the past two years.
“We are excited to sign Caleb as a professional and continue his development with Atlanta United,” Atlanta United Vice President and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra said. “He’s still young but has gotten invaluable minutes through 33 games with ATL UTD 2 which has shown us that he’s ready for the next challenge in his career.”
Wiley, 17, joined the Atlanta United Academy at the age of 11 as a member of the club’s inaugural U-12 team in 2016. He progressed through the Academy and made his professional debut on July 11, 2020 with ATL UTD 2, becoming the youngest player in club history to appear in a professional game at 15 years and 206 days. Wiley went on to play 11 games in 2020, all starts, and finished with 910 minutes played. He led ATL UTD 2 with 25 interceptions that season.
In 2021, Wiley established himself as one of the main pillars along the ATL UTD 2 backline, starting all 22 matches that he played in the USL Championship. He finished with 1,877 total minutes played, giving him 2,787 combined minutes, the most of any Atlanta United Academy player in USL. He was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week on two occasions. He recorded his first career assist on June 6, 2021 in a 1-0 win against Louisville City FC. He added another assist later in the season in a 6-2 win vs. Indy Eleven.
Wiley has also gained international experience over the past couple of seasons. In early 2020, the defender was called into the USMNT U-17s for three friendly matches. At the end of last year, Wiley was called up to the USMNT U-20s for the Revelations Cup in Mexico. He played in all three matches, earning two starts.
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By Atlanta United FC
