Philadelphia Union 2025 Season Preview

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Major League Soccer

·17 February 2025

By MLSsoccer staff

Strength: The Union’s willingness to dig into their academy and shop on the cheap (overseas) means they basically never run out of bodies. Plus in Dániel Gazdag, Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre, they have three double-digit goalscorers. Not bad.
Weakness: Those three guys haven’t been match-winners in the biggest games, the defense kind of fell apart last year and a lot has relied upon their ability to identify and develop undervalued players. That’s become less effective throughout the 2020s.

Jack Elliott: Philadelphia’s longtime center-back partnership of Elliott and Jakob Glesnes was dissolved after the club declined the former’s contract option. Elliott has since signed with Chicago in free agency.
Leon Flach: Flach was a constant in Philadelphia’s midfield over the past four seasons, helping them reach MLS Cup 2022. He’s moved on to reigning Polish top-flight champions Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Jack McGlynn: The homegrown midfielder is now pulling the strings for Houston. McGlynn was traded to the Dynamo in one of the league’s first-ever cash-for-player deals.

Bruno Damiani: The Uruguayan striker is Philadelphia's new club-record signing, arriving from Nacional for reportedly over $3 million.
Ian Glavinovich: Philadelphia’s first order of offseason business was acquiring the Argentine center back from Newell’s Old Boys. Glavinovich arrives on a year-long loan with a purchase option.
Jovan Lukic: A former Serbian youth international, Lukic bolsters the Union midfield after spells in his native Serbia, Portugal and Austria.
Full roster