Ronny Deila is back in the MLS but is now a rival to New York City FC in the Eastern Conference as the Norwegian is the new head coach of Atlanta United FC.

As first reported by NYCFC radio announcer Glenn Crooks, Deila was a candidate of “strong interest” from Atlanta United’s two soccer executives, president and CEO Garth Lagerwey and newly hired athletic director Chris Henderson.

Deila had been managing Al Wahda FC in the United Arab Emirates since this week, but the club announced that Ronny had been sacked on December 18, the same morning that Crooks first reported his potential move to Atlanta. A few days later, the terms of the contract were agreed, with Atlanta hinting on social media that they would “play it back” to the MLS Cup – something Deila won in New York City in 2021.

This brings Deila back to the United States after a somewhat turbulent time following New York City FC, first in Belgium and then in the United Arab Emirates. He abruptly left NYCFC midway through the 2022 season, just months after winning the MLS Cup, to take charge of Standard Liège in the Belgian Pro League. Deila oversaw 40 games for the club in the 2022-2023 season (17 wins, 9 draws, 14 defeats, 1.50 points/game), but left Liège after that one season and moved, somewhat controversially, to Belgian rivals Club Bruges KV season 2023-2024.

Deila didn’t even last a full season for Club Brugge, despite leading the club to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League and collecting 1.94 points per game in his 49 games as manager in all competitions.

Deila was nevertheless sacked in March 2024 after less than a full season as manager, as Club Brugge’s statement described his dismissal as “disappointing results and level of play”. Shortly before his dismissal, Deila was publicly annoyed that Brugge had leaked information to the press and was summarily dismissed shortly before the end of the season and before he could continue his club’s success story in the Conference League.

With Deila’s time in Belgium coming to an end, he was faced with a short ten-game break as coach of Al Wahda FC in the UAE Pro League. He took over the Abu Dhabi-based team in July but had already left that job in December, apparently when MLS and soccer executives in Atlanta came calling.

Garth Lagerwey had just hired Inter Miami CF’s Chris Henderson as Atlanta’s chief soccer officer and sporting director, and the two had their sights set on Deila, even though neither had worked with the Norwegian coach before.

How it relates to a team and its leaders have I worked with Deila, a second part of “Ronny Deila, NYCFC Manager” never seemed likely. There were never any rumors that he was a candidate to return to NYCFC, but he always made sense as a candidate to return to MLS.

He is only the second former NYCFC manager to return to MLS to take a head coaching job elsewhere – Jason Kreis completed the MLS expansion club swap in 2015, taking over Orlando City SC in July 2016, just eight months after NYCFC hired him away from his team relieved of duties after missing the playoffs in 2015.

Interestingly, the coach who replaced Kreis in New York City, Patrick Vieira, was also rumored to be a candidate for the position of head coach of Atlanta United, one of four who applied for the job, according to a report from Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Vieira was considered a possible candidate for Atlanta around the time he was also mentioned as a possible coach of the U.S. men’s national team, but the USMNT hired Mauricio Pochettino and Vieira then took a job with Genoa in Italy’s Serie A to.

In the end, Atlanta got their former NYCFC manager, and they got a generally successful one in Ronny Deila. Winning an MLS Cup and a total of six trophies in his managerial career, which also included a stint as coach of Celtic FC in Scotland, makes Deila feel like the right candidate for a rebuilding but win-hungry Atlanta team, which has the most available general allocation funds (GAM). in the MLS – which they just partially used to acquire Mateusz Klich from DC United – as well as open Designated Player slots to play with.

As for NYCFC, the search for a coach continues. They remain one of four MLS teams that have yet to name a new head coach, joining Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Toronto FC and Philadelphia Union (who are now rumored to be eyeing former St. Louis City SC coach Bradley Carnell ).

The only name linked to the NYCFC job so far has been Jim Curtin, former Philadelphia Union coach and noted Nike connoisseur, but that connection has been tenuous at best.

Des Buckingham, one of five names included in our latest attempt to guess the identity of New York’s next manager, is now on the market and a free agent after being released by his hometown club Oxford United FC in the English Championship became. It’s unclear whether he’s a real candidate for NYCFC, but he spent years as a coach with City Football Group and has been open about his interest in coaching in the MLS – so Buckingham remains one to keep an eye on .

It won’t be Ronny Deila, but he will face New York City FC at least once in the 2025 season as an opponent, on Thursday June 12th at Yankee Soccer Stadium, one of our top 5 NYCFC games in anticipation of the year ahead .

There is a certain irony in seeing Deila take over Atlanta United, a team that played a central role in NYCFC’s 2021 squad, getting hot and looking to win the MLS Cup. This year’s Atlanta team conceded Gudi Thorarinsson’s season-changing free kick goal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the regular season and then became NYCFC’s first victim of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 0-2 at Yankee Soccer Stadium in the first round of the postseason lost.

A lot has changed in Atlanta and New York City and Ronny Deila’s resume since his 2021 MLS Cup run, but Atlanta is bringing him back to MLS in the hopes that he can recapture some of the trophy-winning, sweeping magic that was he used with NYCFC.

Video: Ronny Deila strips off after NYCFC win title

The NYCFC manager carries it all for the away fans after the club won the MLS Cup.