Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union
PSP writers look into the site’s “infamous cracked, cloudy, inaccurate crystal ball” to predict the Union’s pending end-of-season roster decisions.
As the MLS roster freeze date rapidly approaches, we have compiled our individual “seat-of-the-pants” intuitions where each “not guaranteed” individual stands vis-à-vis returning next season.
We have categorized the 24 pending decisions into four groups for discussion: Option, Loanee, Amateur, and Out-of-Contract.
We begin our discussions with the 2026 club options. There are two current Union Academy amateurs who have played for Union II in Next Pro this season.
To reiterate:
Here are the five contract status categories. Each 8/31/25 actively rostered player is classified below. |
|||||
| Guaranteed | Option | Loanee | Amateur | Out-of-contract | |
| Goalkeepers | |||||
| 1 | Blake | Sheridan | Marks | ||
| 2 | Rick | ||||
| 3 | Holbrook | ||||
| Outside Backs | |||||
| 1 | Wagner | Harriel | Sequera | Griffin | |
| 2 | Westfield | ||||
| 3 | Mbaizo | ||||
| Center backs | |||||
| 1 | Glesnes | Makhanya | Glavinovich | ||
| 2 | Pierre | Uzcategui | Moore | ||
| 3 | Benitez | ||||
| Defensive midfielders | |||||
| 1 | Lukic | Jean Jacques | Probst | ||
| 2 | Bueno | Pariano | |||
| 3 | Rafanello | ||||
| Attacking midfielders | |||||
| 1 | Q Sullivan | Vassilev | Johnson | Bedoya | |
| 2 | Illoski | Bender | |||
| 3 | C Sullivan | LeBlanc | |||
| 4 | Anderson | Ferreira | |||
| Strikers | |||||
| 1 | Damiani | Baribo | Uhre | ||
| 2 | Olivas | Donovan | Jakupovic | ||
| 3 | Davis | Korzeniowski | |||
Jordan Griffin:
Alex Hayden: Griffin has looked promising in his limited Union II minutes and is deserving of a second-team contract.
Tim Jones: Make every effort to sign to U II
Kyle Grantham: Returning
Blake Zuschnitt: Haven’t watched him enough to provide an opinion. But always nice to keep developing outside back talent. 14 appearances for Union II at 16 years old, seems like a prudent move to keep him around.
George Diamond: He’ll get signed.
Chris Turk: Why not? Is an amateur. Worth keeping around for another year.
Jamir Johnson:
Alex Hayden: International interest is much more likely for Johnson, who just competed with a PSV academy team as a guest player. Do not stand in his way of making the jump if European football is the route he prefers, but give him the option to become a professional in Philadelphia.
Tim Jones: Behind Ferreira – signing uncertain
Kyle Grantham: Returnin
Blake Zuschnitt: Will be back. He’s a promising talent, one that I’m excited to see develop further after watching him play on multiple occasions over the past 3 seasons. Seems like he could be an impact first-team player at some point.
George Diamond: Would be shocked if he doesn’t get a Union II contract.
Chris Turk: Selected for USMNT U-17s. Worth developing for at least another year.
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