Former Inter Miami sporting director Chris Henderson will join Atlanta United in the same role, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the move confirmed to The Athletic on Monday. Those sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about Henderson’s appointment.
The move is immediate, those sources said, with Atlanta sending a second-round 2026 MLS SuperDraft pick to Miami as compensation — Henderson was under contract at the club.
Henderson joined Inter Miami in 2021 and was at the club during the arrival of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets. The former U.S. men’s national team player is well-regarded within MLS and was in part responsible for some of Miami’s successes — a Leagues Cup triumph in 2023 and Supporters’ Shield championship just this season.
Henderson was also largely responsible for shepherding the club through the severe financial and roster penalties MLS imposed on it prior to his arrival after Miami violated the league’s roster regulations.
Despite all of this, his departure comes as no huge surprise, as his influence at the club had begun to erode. Miami restructured their sporting operations in June by signing former FC Barcelona executive Raul Sanllehi to be President of Soccer Operations, clouding Henderson’s role somewhat. In recent weeks, Miami’s ownership were lukewarm when asked about Henderson’s future and Sanllehi became the face of the sporting side, appearing at press conferences and quoted in press releases.
Henderson’s appointment in Atlanta will reunite him with the club’s president, Garth Lagerwey, whom Henderson worked alongside at the Seattle Sounders for six years, from 2016 until his departure from Miami in 2021. During Henderson’s tenure at Seattle, which began in 2008, the club were often dominant, winning a pair of MLS Cups and four U.S. Open Cups. In Atlanta, Henderson will replace outgoing technical director Carlos Bocanegra, who was fired in September.
Henderson has long been a familiar face in the world of American soccer. A World Cup veteran, Henderson was a key part of the USMNT in the early-to-mid 90s and enjoyed a successful club career as well, playing in Norway and Germany before playing for a host of MLS teams. Henderson retired in 2006.
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