Atlanta United today announced the signing of 31-year-old striker Kenwyne Jones. Jones comes to Atlanta after spending the majority of his career in the English Premier League and Championship, including time at Southampton, Sunderland, Stoke City and Cardiff City.
Jones is a strong striker and prolific goal scorer with 23 goals in 81 career appearances for his country. He scored over 100 total goals during his professional club career including 40 Premier League goals.
“Kenwyne is a player we have known about and watched for a long time,” said Atlanta United technical director Carlos Bocanegra. “He is a big physical forward who can punish you in the air or behind the defense. We’re very happy that the timing worked out and we were able to acquire him during this transfer window.”
Jones, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, began his professional career in 2002 with T & T clubs Joe Public and W Connection. In 2004, he signed with Premier League club Southampton before going on loan to Championship side Stoke City in 2005 where he made 13 appearances and scored three goals. He made 80 appearances for Southampton scoring 22 goals.
Long time captain of the Trinidad and Tobago national team, Jones has been capped at U-18, U-20 and U-23 Olympic team. He represented T & T in the 2006 World Cup and was named Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation’s Player of the Year in 2007.
Jones is a strong presence in attack and will draw considerable attention when facing opponents in MLS. You can see a highlight of his hat-trick with Stoke City above.
If you’re not familiar with Jones, he has a presence much like Everton striker Romelu Lukaku. He’s tall, strong, and a threat that to any opponent’s back-line.
Jones will join Atlanta United on August 1 and will go out on loan until January. Earlier this year Jones went on loan to Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira from Cardiff City. He gave a heartfelt farewell to the Welsh club affectionately called ‘The Blue Birds.’
-Jon J.
Player name: Kenwyne Jones
Height: 6’4
Birth Date: October 5, 1984
Birthplace: Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago
Previous club: Al Jazira
Twitter: @kenwynejonestt