Hartford Athletic Acquire Midfielder Samuel Careaga on Loan
The Argentinian joins the Latics from parent club Lanús of the Primera División
Hartford Athletic have acquired Samuel Careaga on loan from Club Atlético Lanús. Careaga is the second new addition of the 24-25 offseason.
A native of Avellaneda, Argentina, he is a product of Lanús’ youth system, where he also made his professional debut in 2022. The now-22-year-old joined Memphis 901 FC on loan at the tail end of the 2023 USL Championship season, making six appearances and contributing two goals and an assist. His first goal in that campaign came against Hartford as Careaga scored the second of four goals for Memphis in a come-from-behind victory for 901FC.
The midfielder remained in Memphis for the 2024 Championship season, making 31 appearances while adding eight goals and two assists. For his performance in Week 21, where he scored the only goal in a victory over San Antonio, he was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week.
Careaga is an excellent passer in general, but has a particularly accurate long ball and should be able to serve as a deep-lying playmaker with some box-to-box characteristics. His eight goals in 2024 were perhaps something of an overperformance — only two players had a greater positive differential between their expected goals and their actual goals — but he clearly has a nose for goal and should be able to get on the scoresheet a handful of times.
In particular, Careaga showed promise from set-piece situations, scoring twice from free kicks in the 2024 campaign. As he split time with Emerson Hyndman in the Memphis midfield in 2024 — appearing in nearly every game, but logging only about 1500 minutes — there’s still some room to grow and a more featured role should bring more opportunities to contribute. If he can take another step forward and establish himself as an everyday starter for Brendan Burke’s side in 2025, he will be an excellent addition to the club.
With the addition of Careaga, Hartford’s first eleven is probably close to complete with the major need being a true creative presence in the attacking portion of midfield. In 2024, the Latics had some of their greatest success when Danny Barrera was on the pitch in this role but with his departure, the club needs a new playmaker. Careaga fills a need — and his arrival suggests that Jay Chapman might very well be on his way out the door — but there’s still a hole to fill at #10 as the club moves through the second half of the offseason.
The Blazing Musket will have continuing coverage of all of Hartford’s offseason moves as they are announced.