The Philadelphia Union have produced a league champion in the former youth product Auston Trusty. Trusty now plays for Celtic Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland. This season he played a major role in the Champions League team that won the Scottish League Cup and Scottish Premiership. The Media, PA, native started in nine of the ten European matches for his club, and participated in a further 28 matches through the league and other cup competitions.

Auston Trusty had been called up to the United States Men’s National Team in the March FIFA international window. Unfortunately, the former Philadelphia Union defender was dropped from the squad due to an injury. It would have been his fifth cap with the USMNT as he looked to earn a place in Pochettino’s roster. Trusty has encountered setbacks before, and he will try again this summer to make the US roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Media native has come a long way since leaving Philadelphia over five years ago on his route to a potential roster spot for the USMNT.

Philadelphia Union

Auston Trusty signed the Union’s fifth ever Homegrown Player deal in 2016 and proceeded to make over 40 appearances for the Union’s second team, Bethlehem Steel. During that time, Trusty made appearances for youth national teams and played in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In that tournament he became the first active Philadelphia Union player to score a goal in a youth or senior FIFA World Cup. He went on to debut for the Union in 2018 and kept a clean sheet in his first appearance. Trusty played every minute of every game for the Union between his debut in 2018 until April of 2019, totaling an impressive 3,676 straight minutes according to Tom Bogert.

Trusty last made an appearance for the Philadelphia Union in 2019, after which he was sent to the Colorado Rapids for GAM and TAM worth potentially over $600,000. One of the first academy starlets of the Union, Trusty made 62 appearances for the first team. After being a starter for the first year and a half at the club, Trusty lost his spot in the team. The 2019 season ended with Mark Mckenzie and Jack Elliot anchoring the Union backline. Eventually Trusty slipped behind Aurelien Colin on the depth chart, and Erst Tanner decided to cash in on the player with one year left on his contract.

Colorado Rapids

The move to the Colorado Rapids did not start well, as Trusty made only five starts out of a possible 18 for Colorado in his first season. During his second season, he was a stalwart defender for the Rapids. Trusty led Colorado in tackles, interceptions, minutes and appearances among all outfield players in a 2021 season where they finished atop the Western Conference. His performances earned him a €1.8 million move to Arsenal FC in the January transfer window, which he would join in the summer after a loan back to Colorado.

England

Padraigh Smith, GM of the Rapids, claimed there was interest from several European clubs and the move to Arsenal helped Trusty in his career aspirations. Both clubs involved in the transfer are owned by the Kroenkes, which Trusty admitted was a factor that helped the deal go through. He wasn’t at Arsenal for very long, as Birmingham City brought him in on loan for the 2022/23 season in the second tier of English football. An impressive season followed for Trusty as he earned an award for Birmingham’s player of the season. His 43 appearances and four goals during the campaign helped him win his first cap for the USMNT in March of 2023. Trusty’s outstanding season for Birmingham led to a permanent transfer to Premier League club Sheffield United for a reported fee of €5.8 million.

Sheffield United’s season was bad – really bad. The club finished in last place and set records in the Premier League for most goals conceded (104) and least number of clean sheets (1) in a season. Sheffield finished last in the league and were relegated to the Championship, England’s second tier. After the season, Trusty transferred away from the English side to Scotland’s Glasgow Celtic for a fee of €7.1 million. The increase in the transfer fee compared the previous season showed that the player did enough to impress and increase his transfer value despite a difficult year.

Scotland

Now playing for Scottish team Celtic, Trusty has the opportunity to fight for trophies and play in Europe’s most elite club competition. For those unfamiliar with Celtic and the Scottish league, it is dominated by only two teams as the rest of the league cannot compete. One of Glasgow’s biggest teams (Celtic or Rangers) has won the league every year since 1985. Aberdeen, the last team not named Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish League title, were coached by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in that 1985 season. Celtic have finished top of the table nine of the last ten years, and they won the league again just weeks ago. 

Playing for Celtic gives Trusty an opportunity to perpetually win trophies in front of a 60,000 person crowd at Celtic Park. With Celtic, Trusty has already won a Scottish League Cup and the team is on pace to win the Scottish Premiership this season. He represented his club in the Champions League against German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. In addition, Trusty helped keep a clean sheet against last year’s Europa League winners Atalanta. There is no better way to prepare for the World Cup than gaining experience in the Champions League against Europe’s top club teams.

Playing at Celtic also gives Trusty good experience and preparation for representing the USMNT in all competitions. Celtic typically dominate league games, thus holding possession for a majority of their matches. According to soccer statistics website Whoscored, Celtic average almost 75% possession in league games, which results in many touches of the ball for the 26 year old. Trusty does well with those touches, averaging 105 passes per game at a 94% passing accuracy according to Fotmob. The experience on the ball with Celtic should greatly help him in his appearances for the USMNT, as the US typically hold the ball more than their CONCACAF opponents. 

USMNT Future

In this March International window, Trusty was one of only two left footed center backs originally called up in the squad. Tim Ream is the other left footed center back and at thirty-seven years old he’s likely in the twilight of his career. Now is the time for Auston to show his quality and become a starting player for his country, passing Ream in the depth chart. Ream has shown his skills as a ball playing defender, and Trusty needs to show his ability to replace Ream long term. Given his potential with the USMNT, it is disappointing that Trusty missed out on this March International window, but there is every hope that he will come back strong and play for the US in this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In an interview with Goal, Trusty said he aims to represent the USMNT in the 2026 World Cup on home soil. He stated, “​​you just want to be on the field wearing the US crest representing your country. That’s always been a huge motivation for me.” If Trusty performs well at Celtic next season, it will be difficult to keep him off that 2026 US roster. An almost ten year old article about Auston Trusty by Matthew DeGeorge gives some insight as to what one of his earlier coaches thought about him. Penncrest coach Paul Norris stated, “He’s one of the most coachable players I’ve ever had,” and coach Jeff Cook said that Trusty has “that belief [in himself] that [he is] going to improve.” In an era of seemingly spoiled national team players, this mentality is a breath of fresh air.

He has improved – to the level of Europe’s most elite club competition. Philadelphia will be cheering him on if he represents his country this summer and beyond. In DeGeorge’s 2015 article, Trusty himself said, “I think if you’re mentally strong in your play and how your skill level is and how you put yourself out on the field, I think you can play with anybody.” Who might he play against next season for Celtic or even in the 2026 World Cup?