Why are the Philadelphia Union selling Daniel Gazdag? 5 possible explanations | OneFootball

With two weeks to go until the MLS primary transfer closes on April 23, news broke Wednesday -- reported first by GiveMeSport's Tom Bogert -- that the Philadelphia Union were sending attacking midfielder Daniel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew in a trade-for-cash transaction (essentially, an intraleague transfer).

While the move makes intuitive sense for the Crew, who despite their strong start still need to fill the void left by Cucho Hernandez's preseason departure, the motivations for the Union are less clear.

After already parting with players like Julian Carranza, Jose Andres Martinez and Jack McGlynn, the 29-year-old Gazdag represents the fourth player who was a core part of the team's successes under previous manager Jim Curtin to be shuttled off in the past four months. And unlike the other three, he lands directly in the lap of an Eastern Conference rival who has been among Philadelphia's chief challengers in the last few seasons.

That said, Union sporting director Ernst Tanner has built a pretty strong track record over his tenure, and when he signs off on a move, there is usually a sensible rationale behind it.

What could that be this time? Here are three possibilities, more than one of which could be possible at the same time.

Gazdag wanted out

This might feel unlikely, given there was no chatter suggesting this, but perhaps the Hungarian was ready to move on after Curtin's exit.

The Philadelphia Union are known to have a pretty good record of finding solutions when players become unhappy at the club. If Gazdag did want to play elsewhere, that could explain why he didn't go public with the demand -- because he trusted the club would eventually reach a mutually beneficial arrangement.

In Columbus, Gazdag arrives at personally what is probably the best combination of a team where he will drop immediately into the starting lineup, but one that also has a realistic chance to win major silverware.

The Hungarian still has yet to win a major club honor in MLS -- the Union's last came with their 2020 Supporters' Shield crown, earned months before Gazdag's arrival.

The Union believe Cavan Sullivan is ready

Philadelphia Union v Orlando City | Caean Couto/GettyImages

The 15-year-old Sullivan has been billed as a generational prospect in attacking midfield. He's already signed a forward-looking agreement with Manchester City on the premise that he will join the English giants when he turns 18.

But so far, his experience has come mainly in the third-tier MLS Next Pro for the Union's reserve side, where he's already scored twice in three matches this season. And for him to see more first-team action, the Union would have to dump someone else from a roster that is currently performing well at the MLS level.

That becomes a little more palatable if Philadelphia can move an asset and recoup money for it. And Gazdag is the most easily moved attacking asset left who has value.

The Union needed to recoup Damiani's fee

A less encouraging idea -- from the perspective of Union supporters -- would be that the move comes as a response to a club-record transfer fee paid for the services of Uruguayan forward Bruno Damiani.

The Union reportedly paid a transfer fee of about $3.4 million to Nacional of Montevideo for Damiani, who has one goal thus far but has looked goal-dangerous across his appearances.

Given that Gazdag is a more established player, but also one who could experience age-related decline soon, the outgoing fee for him could be in a similar ballpark.

Tanner's aversion to free transfers

The Union had a team option, but Gazdag was in the last year of his guaranteed contract.

If Gazdag wasn't in the club's longer-term plans, perhaps Tanner simply concluded that it was best to recoup something for the player while the club still had theoretical control of him for another 21 months.

That Columbus made the most compelling offer makes sense, given the money they were able to recoup from Hernandez's sale, their roster needs and their aspirations.

There's a bigger move coming

This might feel like the most un-Union-like possibility, given how the club has operated on a relatively meager budget in the recent past.

But Philadelphia has flirted with bigger star names before. The 37-year-old Alejandro Bedoya is no longer a 90-minute player, but at the time of his Union arrival, he was one of the most known faces of the U.S. men's national team.

Marco Fabian's time with Philadelphia was far more brief, but the former Mexico national team star still had some marquee cachet when he played in Chester.

Perhaps Philadelphia is listening to fan anxiety and deciding to make another splashier move, this time with a heftier transfer fee involved. Only time will tell.