There's no replacing Josef Martinez, but Adam Jahn will get the first crack at it when Atlanta United take on FC Cincinnati at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.
Jahn will slide in up top for the Five Stripes in Saturday's match in place of Martinez, who was likely lost for several months when suffering a torn ACL in Atlanta's 2-1 win over Nashville SC in their season opener. There had been speculation leading up to the match as to whether Jahn would crack the starting XI from the jump, or if head coach Frank de Boer would try out Pity Martinez as a false nine and bring Jahn off the bench.
Jahn's substitute appearance coming off the bench against Nashville was his first MLS game since 2018, but he is coming off a standout campaign in the USL Championship with Phoenix Rising last season that saw him net 17 goals in 33 appearances. Atlanta were also reported to be close to signing former Columbus Crew SC draft pick JJ Williams this week and are expected to make at least one more addition at the position in Martinez's absence.
Jahn will get his chance to impress Saturday, when he will go up against another striker making his first start of the season: FC Cincinnati's big offseason recruit Jurgen Locadia.
