The Philadelphia Union are heading into the 2020 MLS season after undoubtably coming off the best season in the clubs short 10-year history in 2019.
The Union during the 2019 season secured the clubs first MLS Cup Playoff win, finished with the most points in club history at 55, notched the most wins with 16, scored the most goals at 58 and assists at 59.
Like all sports teams though the 2019 roster wouldn’t stay together for long. The Union would go on to make multiple trades in the early stages of the offseason.
The Union sent homegrown defender Auston Trusty to the Colorado Rapids for up to $750,000 in Allocation money, and Forward Fafa Picault would also be traded to FC Dallas in exchange for $375,000 in General Allocation money.
On top of losing Trusty and Picault the Union also lost midfielder Haris Medunjanin in the 2019 MLS End-of-Year Waiver Draft. Also, the Union would not pick the club option for star midfielder Marco Fabian who signed with the Union during the 2019 offseason.
Losing the likes of Picault, Medunjanin and Fabian could hurt the Union during the 2020 season. Union sporting director Ernst Tanner has other tricks up his sleeve though.
Union Sporting Director Ersnt Tanner would then go on to sign multiple players to fill the voids of the players lost, midfielder Jose “El Brujo” Martinez, midfielder Matej Oravec and defender Jakob Glesnes.
The biggest signing for the Union during the 2020 offseason though has been bringing back midfielder Jamiro Monteiro who was on loan with the Union during the 2019 season.
Monteiro has been brought back on a permanent transfer from his former club FC Metz in exchange for a $2 million transfer fee. Monteiro would ultimately go on to sign a three-year Designated Player contract with the Union.
The signing of Monteiro breaks a club record transfer fee which was $1 million spent to acquire now Union captain Alejandro Bedoya in 2016.
After a particularly busy offseason for the Union with players being traded away during the 2020 offseason the Union will be challenged to integrate the new players into the clubs unique playing style.
Many Union fans seem to be wondering where the goals will come from this season after losing the likes of Picault, Fabian and Medunjanin.
Well look no further then forward Andrew Wooten. After coming off a sub-par second half of the 2019 MLS season after being acquired by the club looks to be hungry to show his worth in 2020. Before being acquired by the Union in June 2019 Wooten scored 17 goals in 31 appearances in the 2018/19 season for his former club SV Sandhausen.
These statistics prove that Wooten can be a prolific scorer in MLS, especially with the past offseason to get acclimated to his new environment. I expect Wooten will get back to his goal scoring ways in 2020.
On top of player signings and trades the Union also renewed the club’s jersey partnership with Bimbo Bakeries USA on December 4th,
The four-year partnership will continue through 2023 and enable Bimbo to vary its sponsor branding on the home and away kits for the upcoming season. The deal is also the first of its kind for any MLS club sponsor.
Another big deal the Union made this offseason was renaming the stadium, the Union and Subaru of America, Inc. would announce a multi-year stadium naming rights partnership on Feb. 18.
The home of the Philadelphia Union will now be named Subaru Park. Subaru of America won’t just be a name of the stadium, they are supplying a brand new HDR video board, new parking lots and helping fund the brand-new tunnel club.
The Union in all are set up to have a very exciting 2020 MLS season, let’s hope they can surpass last season’s historic season.