Photo Marjorie Elzey

The Philadelphia Union’s defensive midfield depth chart is being transformed.

Jonathan Tannewald of The Inquirer reports that transferring Jose Martinez to Brazilian side Corinthians is in the works. At his Friday news conference Jim Curtin could not comment officially, but  said that crazy things can happen while trying to get deals finalized. But he said Martinez would definitely not play against Mazatlan, that there was “truth in the reports,” and that there was “momentum” in the Martinez situation.

Barring a last-moment breakdown, e.g., Orlando striker Duncan McGuire’s over and back travel across the pond for his almost-transfer to England recently, it sounds like Martinez is gone. He is 30 and we guess that this may be an opportunity for him to have a lucrative end-of-career contract that might be life-changing for his family.

Second, Tannewald reports on X (formerly Twitter) and in the Inquirer that Danley Jean Jacques’ paperwork has completed as of August 16 and that he is eligible to dress and play. Whether he will is another story. Given our third point to follow, he might, since in the space of a few days three defensive midfielders have shrunk to one. WE got the impression eon Flach might start at the “six” against Mazatlan.

Third, defensive midfield prospect Sanders Ngabo has been permanently transferred to second division Danish side AC Horsens. At the Town Hall referenced below Ernst Tanner and Jim Curtin described the situation as the player going home to where he could play, having failed to break into the first team midfield in Philadelphia after regaining his game fitness via Union II. The deal was done within the transfer window even though it was announced the day afterwards.

Fourth, also at the end of the transfer window and completing the details of roster rule changes concerning the up to six Designated Players and U22 Initiative Players that each club may have, MLS announced the pathways chosen by each club for its use of those six individuals for the rest of this season.

Every year a club can choose between between the Designated Player pathway and the U22 Initiative one. The DP path is up to both three DPs and three U22s. The U22 path is up to two DPs, up to four U22s, and an additional $2 milliion dollars of General Allocation Money for the full calendar year. Since 2024’s choice does not cover a full calendar year, its GAM payment is pro-rated to one million instead of two.

As will surprise no one, with Julian Carranza gone the Union have only two DPs (striker Mikael Uhre and attacking mid Daniel Gazdag), and one known U22 (20-year-old center back Olwethu Makhanya), so choosing an extra $1 million dollars of GAM was probably an easy decision. It does indicate definitively that a third DP will not be arrive in 2024. Neither Danley Jean Jacques nor Cavan Sullivan can be DPs.

NOT roster news

Finally, at the Town Hall meeting August 14 at Union Yards with Owners Jay Sugarman and Richard Liebovitch, Sporting Director Ernst Tanner, Head Coach Jim Curtin, and President Tim McDermott, Sugarman said two things of interest early in the conversation.

• He said this year they will spend about $100 million dollars building the second phase of the WSFS Sportsplex and covering the organization’s operating losses.
• And he referenced the Union’s position in Transfermarkt’s total valuation of each MLS club, which we collect and present as a table below. Sugarman said the Union was fourth or fifth, and it is in fact fourth. As Tanner then referenced, the values are expressed in Euros not U. S. dollars.

Transfermarkt’s MLS club’s total values – August 17, 2024.

We have no idea how Transfermarkt calculates each club’s total value.