Photo Kevin Barrett
There are three Philadelphia Union-contracted players currently away on loan elsewhere.
- Midfielder CJ Olney, (19.4 years-old) and striker Markus Anderson (22.4 ) are both with former Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc at USL Championship expansion side Brooklyn FC. Brooklyn currently lies 11th of 13 in the USL eastern conference.
- Centerback Neil Pierre is with Lyngby Boldklub, currently of the second-highest Danish professional league (aka the First Division), where he is earning a major role in their promising fight for promotion back into Denmark’s highest level. Lyngby currently lies first in the table ahead of second place by eight points with four matches yet to play. They seem well placed to achieve promotion to the Superligaen for next season.
It is time to report the collected details that describe how the three are progressing.
Performances
All three are now getting playing time. Olney unsurprisingly became a fixture for coach LeBlanc right away, just as he was when both were with Union II in 2024. Anderson joined Olney as a fellow fixture as soon as an injury concern had disappeared. And Pierre has begun to earn playing time, twice as a substitute and more recently thrice as a starter.
In the charts below below we combine Transfermarkt’s individual performance data, that of the official English-language Danish league website and the USL Championship one, and the less official details of various internet score reporting services (Flashscore, SofaBet, SoccerSTATS, and so on). We combine them all to provide our best unofficial understanding of the basic data the three absentees have posted so far this season.
Data compiled is as of Monday, May 4th. As always typos and elisions intend to help keep the data lined up properly in the charts. Losing match scores are prefixed by a capital “L”, e.g., L1-0.
Markus Anderson – Brooklyn FC Loan ends November 30, 2026
| Opp | Pos | G | A | On | Off | Y | Y2 | R | MIn | ||||
| 1 | Mar08 | H | Indy | 1-0 | Not in Squad | ||||||||
| 2 | Mar14 | A | Detroit | L3-0 | Not in squad | ||||||||
| 3 | Mar21 | H | Hartfrd | L 2-1 | LW | 1 | 77’ | 90’ | |||||
| 4 | Mar24 | A | Lexngtn | L3-0 | 68’ | 22’ | |||||||
| 5 | Mar28 | H | Louisvle | L1-0 | LM | 90’ | |||||||
| 6 | Apr11 | H | Charlstn | 3-0 | CF | 1 | 2 | 90’ | |||||
| 7 | Apr21 | H | Sacrmnto | 1-1 | CF | 1 | 85’ | 85’ | |||||
| 8 | May02 | A | MiamiFC | L3-2 | CF | 1 | 90’ | ||||||
Once he recovered game fitness, Anderson has played full matches for his new team. He had a goal and two assists in their second win of the season, a 3-0 home victory over the Charleston Battery on April 11th. He leads the team with four goals scored, which ties with five others for eighth place in the league.
CJ Olney – Brooklyn FC Loan ends November 30, 2026
| Opp | Pos | G | A | On | Off | Y | Y2 | R | MIn | ||||
| 1 | Mar08 | H | Indy | 1-0 | LM | 90’ | |||||||
| 2 | Mar14 | A | Detroit | L3-0 | LW | 90’ | |||||||
| 3 | Mar21 | H | Hartfrd | L2-1 | CM | 90’ | |||||||
| 4 | Mar24 | A | Lexngtn | L3-0 | CM | 68’ | 22’ | ||||||
| 5 | Mar28 | H | Louisvle | L1-0 | AM | 78’ | 78’ | ||||||
| 6 | Apr11 | H | Charlstn | 3-0 | LM | 1 | 82′ | 82’ | |||||
| 7 | Apr21 | H | Sacrmnto | 1-1 | LM | 85’ | 85’ | ||||||
| 8 | May02 | A | MiamiFC | L3-2 | LM | 1 | 90’ |
Olney has played in every game since arriving on loan at coach LeBlanc’s new team. He has started seven of the eight games and subbed on for the other which was played at midweek. He had an assist (to Anderson) in Brooklyn’s second win of the season against Charleston on April 11, and a second assist in Miami on May 2nd.
Neil Pierre – Lyngby Boldklub Loan ends June 30, 2026
| Opp | Pos | G | A | On | Off | Y | Y2 | R | MIn | ||||
| 23 | Apr04 | A | Horsens | L1-0 | CB | 60’ | 30’ | ||||||
| 24 | Apr11 | H | Kolding | 3-1 | On the bench | ||||||||
| 25 | Apr18 | H | Hvidovre | 2-1 | CB | 51’ | 60’ | 30’ | |||||
| 26 | Apr21 | A | Hillerod | 3-1 | LCB | 64’ | 51’ | 64’ | |||||
| 27 | Apr24 | H | Esbjerg | 5-0 | LCB | 34’ | 64’ | 64’ | |||||
| 28 | May03 | H | Hillerod | L2-1 | LCB | 82’ | 90’ | ||||||
| 29 | May09 | A | Hvidovre | ||||||||||
| 30 | May15 | A | Kolding | ||||||||||
| 31 | May25 | H | Horsens | ||||||||||
| 32 | May31 | A | Esbjerg | ||||||||||
Lyngby is the midst of its end-of-season attempt to earn promotion back into the highest level of competition in Danish professional soccer. They currently lead the promotion group by eight points, with four of the 10 “championship group” games remaining.
Pierre has started the last three consecutive matches, being subbed off after roughly an hour in the first two and playing the full 90 in the most recent. His earlier two games saw him substitute on for about the last half an hour in each.
The pattern’s sequence suggests his 90-minute match fitness is being developed, which indicates that play in his Danish league is faster and more intense than that of MLSNEXT Pro. Of course he arrived after having had his winter break from last year so building fitness was inevitable.
He has two goals. His first was the equalizer against Hvidovre on April 18th. His second was the game’s second in the 5-0 rout of Esbjerg on April 24th.
His 90 minute match , his most recent, came against Lyngby’s closest pursuer in the promotion table.
Crystal Ball: Three futures
To borrow a phrase club sources have used in the past when discussing earlier players, we guess that Philadelphia may consider Olney and Anderson “USL players.” While both earned cameos with the first team last year, we are guessing that neither has yet demonstrated a present-day capacity to affect MLS matches as opposed to merely holding a place on the pitch.
The question is whether the have reached their ceilings, or whether further growth and development is possible.
Recent comments by coach Carnell (in reference to different players currently on the Union’s 2026 active roster) described the gap between MLS and MLSNEXT Pro as “vast.” His comment used the word twice.
So, it would be credible that the two loans to a league perceived as higher quality have developmental goals. That Coach LeBlanc was highly successful within Philadelphia’s player development program lends the thought further credibility, since his products are known to be acceptable to Philadelphia.
But historically departure from Philadelphia’s direct tutelage has more often than not meant departure from the club’s plans. Therefore,
- We would be mildly surprised if Anderson’s club option for 2027 were exercised.
- We suspect that a reasonable offer for Olney’s contract – which is guaranteed through 2028 – might well be accepted.
We are confident the Union rate center back Pierre differently from Anderson and Olney.
As we detail below, Pierre is in the process of earning a starting role with a club that is progressing towards promotion to Denmark’s highest level. If he stays on track, we think he will return to Chester in June. It will probably be before the official end of his loan because Lyngby ends their season on May 31st.
Unless he has sufficiently impressed outside clubs to generate a serious purchase offer, he will rejoin the first team’s cohort of center backs during the World Cup break and begin to work towards Major League Soccer playing time. To us the Pierre data above do not telegraph a lucrative, immediate, direct sale to a major European club. But the possibility does exist. The crystal ball has never before tried to predict such an event.
If we have understood Danish football procedures correctly, Pierre could return stateside about a week after the Union have begun their 59-day World Cup hiatus.
As far as we know, the Union have not publicized how they intend to use those 59 days (from Sunday, May 24th in Miami until Wednesday, July 22nd at Subaru Park). We are confident that a plan already exists, because when he was a player, coach Carnell experienced at least one World Cup hiatus during his Bundesliga career. He has at least one template to follow when making his plan.
Beginning with a week off would make sense for recreation and refreshment. Were that to happen, Pierre would likely arrive in perfect rhythm to join the long hiatus’s teaching and training activities.
Other considerations
By custom and tradition clubs do not announce roster transactions during the World Cup.
That does not mean deals are being negotiated out of the spotlight. Since MLS’s secondary (summer) transfer window opens Monday, July 13th, the end of the World Cup break might see the Union announce further roster departures and/or acquisitions.
- The first expected change will be the return of Quinn Sullivan.
- The second will be Pierre’s return.
- Over the winter there were rumors of overseas interest in Olwethu Makhanya.
- Danley Jean Jacques was not discussed as prominently as the South African center back, but a good World Cup could easily spark outside interest.
The atrocious Union performance since February will not sharpen overseas interest in Union players. And the absence of relegation’s reducing future revenues eases any need to shed payroll. But the Union also considers the longer-term wishes of its players, as illustrated this past winter with Kai Wagner especially and to a lesser extent with free agent Mikael Uhre.
Were an offer received for a Union player that made good business sense for all parties, Philadelphia might well go forward with it. Carnell made it clear during preseason that Philadelphia is constantly looking to improve the club should opportunity arise. Opportunities are not only player acquisitions but also monetary ones. The money would likely be reinvested in the club in some fashion, such as an experienced goal scorer (see the aforementioned Uhre back in 2022).
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