Union faces NYCFC on heels of Daniel Gazdag trade

The Philadelphia Union will visit New York City FC on Saturday in their first game since the trade of Daniel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew for $4 million in cash.

The Crew officially announced the move on Friday, after Gazdag was spotted at his new team's training sessions this week.

Without the Hungarian international, the Union (4-2-1, 13 points) will be missing a player who has scored 59 league goals in 125 appearances since his arrival in 2021.

But his exit could also pave the way for more playing time for 15-year-old Cavan Sullivan, who has signed an agreement to move to Manchester City after his 18th birthday.

The highly touted teen prospect has played only 19 minutes this season over two matches for the Union while featuring more prominently for its reserve side.

"Still on our roster, still eligible, still vying for minutes and there's a lot of competition," Philadelphia manager Bradley Carnell said of Sullivan. "So yeah, we can be creative in different ways. But I would say everyone's put their hand up. ... I think everyone has done an excellent job of putting themselves in the shopping window in terms of selection."

After a strong start, the Union have won only once in their last four and settled for a 0-0 draw at home to Orlando City last Saturday.

Philly's Tai Baribo still leads MLS with six goals but hasn't scored since Matchday 3.

Meanwhile, NYCFC (2-3-2, 8 points) has lost back-to-back matches while struggling to put complete performances together.

Last Sunday, the Cityzens found themselves trailing by two by the half-hour mark in a 2-1 home loss to Minnesota United. Alonso Martinez struck the crossbar with a penalty late in the first half, keeping his team-leading goal total at four.

The week before, it was the final half-hour where City coughed up a two-goal lead by conceding three times in a 4-3 defeat at Atlanta.

"If you take the last 30 minutes in Atlanta, we're not bulletproof enough to deal with that kind of situation. And the previous game shows we were not always capable of showing the right mentality early on," said City manager Pascal Jansen. "There's still a lot of room to grow in this area. And that's what we're focusing on."

--Field Level Media