Photo Kevin Barrett

The Philadelphia Union announced Friday morning that off-roster homegrown forward Eddy Davis III has been loaned to Loudoun United of the USL Championship for the remainder of the 2026 season. 

Davis has struggled with injuries this season, appearing in just 13 of Philadelphia Union II’s 21 matches thus far. He has scored 5 goals in MLS NEXT Pro this year. Since his first appearance in 2023, he has played 76 matches for Union II and scored 24 goals. Davis made his MLS debut on June 25, 2025, against the Chicago Fire. He came off the bench and played two minutes. He was an unused substitute in two other matches in 2025 and also sat on the bench for the Union’s first leg against Defense Force in this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The midseason move to Loudoun will give Davis a necessary challenge in his development. Loudoun was previously DC United’s second team before the creation of MLS NEXT Pro and now operates independently from its former MLS owner in the USL Championship, the second tier of the US Soccer pyramid. 

The Virginia side is currently 10th in the USL’s Eastern Conference, sporting 18 points and a minus-8 goal differential through 17 matches. Davis would compete with 25-year-old Icelandic forward Thorleifur Úlfarsson, who has 8 goals on the year, for minutes up top. He would also join original Bethlehem Steel center back Bolu Akinyode. 

We have seen loans to USL benefit Union homegrowns in the past. Most recently, midfielder CJ Olney spent two months on loan to Lexington SC in the middle of last year’s Union II regular season. Olney struggled to break into the established, older group in Kentucky but returned to Union II renewed and became a key part of the team’s push to the 2025 Eastern Conference Final. 

Davis will get to test himself in a new environment and in a league with a distinct physicality. If he excels in the division II USL Championship, that growth might earn him a return to Philadelphia with a renewed opportunity to make Ryan Richter’s roster for 2027. If he plateaus in USL C, he will be a candidate for sale to a division II or division III side.  He is under contract for 2027 and possesses a physical attribute that no coach can teach: speed. 

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, his absence will open Union II-level development opportunities for forwards beneath him in the depth chart. As Theo Reed and John Ruf move into their senior year at YSC Academy, they will need such MLS NEXT Pro opportunities to develop towards possible future professional careers.