Photo Marjorie Elzey

Now that the Philadelphia Union has resumed play in Major League Soccer and we have seen the two consecutive wins achieved by new interim head coach Ryan Richter (see photo), it is time to reevaluate the roster decisions that new Sporting Director Jon Scheer, coach Richter, and the rest of their revised technical staff must make by the end of the season.

2027’s complication

In 2027, Major League Soccer will change its season’s sequence from Spring-Summer-Fall to Fall-Winter-Spring. Instead of taking winters off, MLS will rest during the summer. 

The complication is the exact date when standard individual player contracts terminate.

Those contracts that were announced before the calendar shift was publicized in November of 2025 have always been expected to expire on December 31st of the particular calendar year. We can only assume that those announced since the news will expire on June 30th.

The Decisions 

To enumerate the 2027 roster situation concisely:

• Two players are “in limbo” as will be explained immediately below.
• Two more are away on loan, one of whom is guaranteed for 2027 while the other faces a 2027 club option decision. 
• One player will definitely be out of contract this coming December 31st.
• Seven others have options for 2027 that the club must choose to exercise or not. 
• Nineteen are guaranteed for all — or in one case part — of the 2027 calendar year.

Decisions for which we lack full clarity 

Olwethu Makhanya is “in limbo.” He remains physically away from Philadelphia. Officially, he is away for “personal reasons.” Unofficially, he is represented as disputing whether Philadelphia had promised him a move to Europe when any offer was received. Apparently an offer has been received and rejected by the club as below their valuation of him. It was too low in other words. 

Makhanya has been represented by both South African sources and MLS roster guru Tom Bogert as feeling Philadelphia has broken its promise. After the 2023 season, his contract with Philadelphia was announced as guaranteed through calendar 2027.

Past experiences — Kai Wagner’s departure for Birmingham most recently — suggest that the club’s promise almost certainly contained a caveat that the numbers had to make sense for all parties. We suspect that Makhanya’s camp is ignoring the caveat while trying to force Philadelphia to accept the unidentified “top Belgian club’s” offer. They may be testing the new Union Sporting Director’s resolve. We suspect Makhanya’s camp may not understand the backstory of Auston Trusty’s 2019 departure from Philadelphia in sufficient detail.

Sal Olivas is the other player whom we think may perhaps be in limbo. Even though he is still listed on the club website’s first team roster page, he was not included in a club-produced video reintroducing the first team to the public after the World Cup break on July 21st. And he was the only first teamer present at the Union II practice most recently observed by PSP.

On May 13th at Kinetic Field #1 of the WSFS Sportsplex against New England Revolution II, Olivas received a second yellow card for an aggressive tackle and unwisely slapped the card out of the referee’s hand as he went by while leaving the field. He was suspended an extra two games in addition to the usual one for a second yellow.  Informally we know the extra severity reflected his non-verbal interaction with the referee.

The evidence that Olivas’s status has changed is not conclusive. The video omission may have been unavoidable due to scheduling, for example, since he is not practicing with the first team. Since his return from suspension, Olivas has started twice for Union II and has dressed for every game. His contract was announced as guaranteed through December of 2028 when he was signed in February 2025. 

But he, Eddy Davis, and Malik Jakupovic are no longer rotating their Union II starts in the strictly equal sequence they had used before his suspension.

Markus Anderson has been on loan to Brooklyn FC since February 27th. Brooklyn is an expansion side playing its first season in the USL Championship, a division two league in the US Soccer pyramid. They are coached by Anderson’s old Philadelphia Union II coach Marlon LeBlanc. 

Philadelphia holds an option on Anderson’s contract to bring him back for the 2027 season. The option was announced 11 months before the league announced its calendar change, so Anderson’s contract period should end this coming December 31st.

Anderson has been a consistent starter for LeBlanc’s Brooklyn at center forward and on the wing. He is tied for ninth in scoring in the USLC’s eastern conference with five goals. Before the weekend he had three assists in his 10 starts and one substitute’s appearance totaling 901 minutes.  He seems to be a solid USL Championship player. We doubt his Union option will be exercised and expect his contract might be sold.

Like Anderson, C.J. Olney has also been on loan to LeBlanc’s Brooklyn side for the 2026 USLC season. He has been a fixture at left midfield except when LeBlanc has inverted him to the right side.  He has 16 starts and one substitute’s appearance in all competitions for a total of 1,373 minutes played. By PSP’s unofficial compilation he has played in every game available since he was loaned. He has two goals and four assists.

On June 30th he was voted “mid-season young player of the year” for the USL Championship by its fans.

As of August 6th, 2024, Olney’s Union contract is guaranteed through December of 2028. He played consistently for interim Union head coach Richter when Richter was coaching Union II last year. If he has developed well enough this season, he certainly could be brought back as a depth piece in the first team’s midfield for next year. If the Union do not rate him as an MLS player, next season he will certainly play somewhere in the USL Championship, perhaps with Brooklyn if a price can be negotiated. LeBlanc clearly trusts him.

Necessary decisions that seem fully understood

The first of these is that Alejandro Bedoya will be out of contract December 31st, 2026 and is 39.2 years old (as of July 23rd). Since Cavan Sullivan has emerged as an MLS starter and Quinn Sullivan is showing recovered from his knee injury, we judge that the captain emeritus is more likely to receive a farewell send off, a banner on the ring of honor, and a serious job in the front office than a contract to play next year. 

The next four arise because none (!) of the first team’s four defensive midfielders are guaranteed for 2027. The club holds options to bring back each should they so choose. Since no one lower down in the organization seems ready for immediate first-team play in a double pivot, we expect all four to return by whatever mechanism.

• Danley Jean Jacques starts, is 26.2 years old, and has pushed forward into an attacking midfielder’s role towards the ends of games with increasing regularity. Director Scheer should be actively trying to re-sign and extend him.
• Jovan Lukic also starts, is 24.5 years old, and makes the best pair with Jean Jacques in the double pivot. He reads when to cover for Jean Jacques’ offensive forays increasingly well. Director Scheer should plan to open negotiations on a new contract soon.
• Jesus Bueno,is the position’s primary reserve and is 27.3 years old. The quality of his play allows Jean Jacques to shift forward as described earlier without losing defensive effectiveness. Scheer is probably planning negotiations, although contract length may be a complication.
• Jeremy Rafanello is 26.3 years old and ranks fourth among the quartet. Since there is no obvious candidate within the organization who is immediately ready to replace him, we expect his option will be exercised.

After these first five necessary moves will follow two more. Two of the three goalkeepers are not guaranteed for 2027. 

• Andre Blake is 35.7 years old and is on an option for 2027. A knee occasionally has to be drained — we think semi-annually — in order for him to play.  Whether he will remain captain of Jamaica remains unknown since the Jamaican Football Federation has yet to announce a new permanent head coach. We expect the Union’s 2027 option for Blake to be exercised by December if a new contract bringing him back has not already been announced.
• George Marks’ return seems much less certain. He is 26.7 years old and the club holds two options for him, one only for the so-called sprint season of 2027, and a second for the 2027-2028 season itself. Pierce Holbrook seems to have recovered from his surgical knee and has played well for Union II. Holbrook  may be ready to displace Marks as the organization’s third goalkeeper, and the University of Delaware’s Jojo Elliott keeps being called back to the club whenever his schedule and the NCAA’s rules allow it.

As the eighth and last necessary move, an option decision must be made about 23.5 year-old striker Stas Korzeniowski.

Korzeniowski suffered a non-surgical knee ligament injury May 17th against Columbus at Kinetic Field #1 in Chester, and resumed practicing six weeks later at the very beginning of July. As of Sunday, July 26th he had not yet dressed for a game with either professional team.  

When healthy he had proven himself above the usual level of play in MLS Next Pro. These days his presence there would “block” developmental minutes needed by Malik Jakupovic and Eddy Davis. He is either the fourth or fifth striker for the first team, depending on where and how Agustin Anello will be used by coach Richter. Were he healthy, his participation would help the first team survive its looming eight games in August.

The big man provides tremendous athletic presence in the box with his size, power, and right-footed cannon. His option decision may turn on whether his ground coverage is sufficient to sustain a striker’s defensive pressing responsibilities under the Union’s system of play. Can he cover ground like Bruno Damiani, in other words?

2027’s 19 currently guaranteed returns

• 1 Goalkeeper: Andrew Rick
• 3 Outside backs: Kai Wagner, Frank Westfield, Philippe Ndinga*
• 5 Center backs: Japhet Sery, Nathan Harriel, Neil Pierre, Geiner Martinez, Finn Sundstrom
• 0 Defensive mids:
• 4 Attacking mids: Cavan Sullivan, Indiana Vassilev, Quinn Sullivan, Ben Bender**.
• 6 Strikers: MIlan loski, Bruno Damiani, Ezekiel Alladoh, Agustin Anello, Malik Jakupovic, Eddy Davis. 

Note please:

1. *There are unofficial reports that Ndinga may be sold onward as having become redundant upon Kai Wagner’s return. 
2. ** Bender’s contract is guaranteed only through 2027’s sprint season, until June. 
3. We do not include Olivas for the reasons previously discussed.

Appendix: A consequent depth chart for the 2027 sprint season

Su, Jul-26
Position	Starter	Primary reserve	Deeper depth	Limbo & loaned
GK	Blake	Rick	Marks
LB	Wagner	Ndinga
LCB	Harriel	Pierre		Makhanya
RCB	Sery	Martinez	Sundstrom
RB	Westfield
DM	Jean Jacques	Bueno
DM	Lukic	Rafanello
AM	Vassilev	Anello	Bender	Olney
AM	C Sullivan	Q Sulllivan	Bedoya
S	Damiani	Alladoh	Davis	Olivas
S	Iloski	Korzeniowski	Jakupovic	Anderson