Photo from September 29th, 2024 courtesy Philadelphia Union II Communications

Now that the USL Championship regular season is over as a postscript to PSP’s annual Philadelphia Union II roster analysis , we discuss the four organization players who, for varying developmental purposes, spent either the full 2026 season or the last part of it loaned away to other clubs.

Following Philadelphia’s philosophical commitment to age as a prerequisite for investing further time in developing players, we listed the four from youngest to oldest.

• Attacking midfielder C. J. Olney (see photo), almost 20-years-old, spent the entire season loaned to expansion USL-C side Brooklyn FC under former Union II coach Marlon LeBlanc.
• Striker Eddy Davis III, 20.4-years-old, finished the season with USL-C side Loudoun United.
• Striker Markus Anderson, almost 23-years-old, began the season alongside Olney on loan to Brooklyn of USL-C and is finishing it on loan to Danish side Lyngby Boldklub newly returned to the Danish Superligaen.
• Striker Stas Korzeniowski, 23.7-years-old, finished his regular season with USL-C’s playoff-bound Rhode Island FC and opens its postseason this coming Friday in the first round of their playoffs at Charleston.

By their behavior the Union rank the three loaned away strikers behind fellow striker 17.3-year-old Malik Jakupovic who just made his first MLS start against Nashville. The 17-year-old is rumored to be a target for acquisition by some well-known European professional clubs. Were Jakupovic actually to leave, one of Davis. Anderson, or Korzeniowski would become the in-house candidate to replace him short-term. The other two would play somewhere else next season, given that four first-team striker contracts precede them on Philadelphia’s roster. Striker is a crowded position right now in Philadelphia.

Attacking midfielder Olney’s position is not crowded. It is already thin and may become considerably thinner after 2026 ends. 

• Alejandro Bedoya’s age and shrunken playing time suggest his roster spot may turnover after December. 
• In addition, were Manchester City to exert its rumored but unconfirmed prerogative to move Cavan Sullivan to a City Group team in Europe, the attacking midfield would become even more depleted. 

Having previously played both for the Union’s academy and then Union II, Olney is an obvious in-house candidate to return and move up to a first-team role. Spending the entire season in the USL-C may have been a deliberate move to develop him further as a potential replacement for either Bedoya or Cavan Sullivan, … or both. (Note Marlon LeBlanc’s comment on the matter at the end of our presentation.)

The loanaways’ statistics

Under the heading “contract status,” “G” means “guaranteed;” while “O” means the club holds an option it may choose to exercise. Ranks within the player’s club for the season are given below the datum where appropriate when they are known.

CJ Olney	Brooklyn FC  (full season)
Attacking Midfielder 19.9 years old	30 of 31 Games  1st	28 Starts 1st	2,520 total minutes 1st
Contract status G26, G27, G28, O29	4 Goals Tied 3rd	9 Assists 1st	47 Chances created 1st
	Olney was subbed off only six times in his 28 starts.
	As will surprise no one who followed Philadelphia Union II in 2024, Olney was a wheel horse for Marlon LeBlanc in Brooklyn’s midfield. The rejoining of coach to player seemed positive for both.

2.

Eddy Davis	Loudoun United (last 13 games of their season)
Striker 20.4 y/o	13 of 31 Games	13 starts	1,067 total minutes
Contract status G26, G27, O28, O29	8 goals Tied 1st	0 Assists	4 Chances created
	In three fewer games Davis matched the goal total of the striker he replaced who had been sold on.
	As he has been during his time with Philadelphia, while with Loudoun Davis remained almost exclusively a finisher but not a creator.

3.

Markus Anderson	Brooklyn FC until August 7th
Striker 22.9 y/o	16 of 21 Games	14 Starts	1,274 total minutes
Contract status G26, O27, O28	6 Goals 1st	4 Assists 2nd	17 Chances created Tied 4th
	Lyngby Boldklub after August 7th through October 28th, (play ongoing)
	6 games; 5 League & 1 Cup	1 Start (the Cup match)	78 minutes (in the league matches)
	1 Goal in the League;  Cup is unknown	Assists unknown	Chances created unknown

Since Anderson was given some first team opportunities in Philadelphia earlier, since he is nearly 23, and since he seems to rate below Korzeniowski and Davis, we suspect he is being showcased for the benefit of teams other than Philadelphia. Probably he will play elsewhere in 2027, Lyngby being perhaps a possibility. If he returns to the United States, he has proven himself successful at the lower levels of USL Championship play.

4.

Stas Korzeniowski	Rhode Island FC after August 27th (Stats compiled before the USL playoffs began)
Striker 23.7 y/o	11 of 11 Games	9 Starts	729 total minutes
Contract status G26, O27, O28	3 Goals	0 Assists	4 Chances created
	When Korzeniowski’s loan was announced, the announcement stated there was a right of recall held by Philadelphia. We assume the right would be exercised were Malik Jakupovic to leave Philadelphia for Europe before the end of Union play in 2026.

Korzeniowski is the oldest of the Union’s four loanaways, hence the most deserving of the label “aged out.” He is also the one most ready to survive and contribute during an emergency insertion into an MLS match. He had an immediate early impact for Rhode Island. His goals all came early during his tenure there. Then we guess that perhaps other USL teams noticed and gave him closer attention during his later matches.

He has proven himself a capable USL-C player, but he has not yet proven himself a continual difference maker there. 

In the short-term he is the leading in-house candidate to replace Jakupovic should the teenage striker be sold onward to another club elsewhere. Korzeniowski has the mentality to be an MLS player. And he has the athleticism. The question remains whether he has sufficient quickness and speed. His determination to succeed is manifest.

as instructed by his coaches At the MLS NEXT Pro level he has changed his game to maximize his strengths by getting into the box early and letting other teammates advance the ball to him rather than playing as a traditional hold-up striker during ball advancement. And he has clearly outgrown that league.

But the plateau jump in 2026 against MLS or LIga MX opposition — Club America (start, 45 minutes), Cruz Azul (did not dress), Necaxa (did not dress), Santos Laguna (start, 59 minutes) — has gone less well. He has filled space while working hard but made no particular impact on those matches. (The 2026 results were unlike his second half substitute performance in a friendly against Atlas FC June 7th, 2025 when both Markus Anderson and Eddy Davis scored in the second half to give the Union a 2-1 victory and colleague Alex Hayden was asked by neighbors in the stands to explain who exactly this Korzeniowski fellow was.)

Korzeniowski’s first-team brace came at home in Philadelphia in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Defense Force of Trinidad & Tobago, a side that seemed weaker than most of Union II’s subsequent 2026 MLS NEXT Pro opposition. Of course the Trinidadians were  playing away in the cold of Philadelphia on February 26th at night after the longest plane flight of their season.

We guess that part of the reason the big man was loaned away was to clear the path for Jakupovic. The youngster has since received substantial substitute’s minutes to meet assumed European-based requests to observe the teenager in game action, and most recently a full hour after a start.

But another reason was to put Korzeniowski into a higher quality, growth-forcing environment. Having watched none of his Rhode Island games, the statistics by themselves are inconclusive whether such further growth is occurring. Were the Penn graduate to help Rhode Island advance against the Charleston Battery this Friday, he would strengthen his case to return to Philadelphia on a club exercised option for 2027.

Summary

Among the four loanaways, were a 2026 short-term immediate emergency to occur, Stas Korzeniowski would be the most likely  candidate to return to Philadelphia. But in the longer term he is the least likely because of his age and his lack of production when playing at the MLS and Liga MX levels. His possible 2027 season in Philadelphia would seem dependent on Malik Jakupovic’s immediate future.

Because of his age, the crowding at the striker position, and his failure to make his mark during earlier first-team opportunities, Markus Anderson will probably have his contract option declined for 2027 and play somewhere else next year.

Eddy Davis remains what he has always been with Philadelphia, a hard-working, quick, pacy goal scorer who creates fewer opportunities for others than he otherwise might. Were a USL-C team to make an offer for him we doubt the Union would decline it.

C. J. Olney seems the most likely loaned away player to move into a full blown Philadelphia first-team role. He played a full season in a league noted for its fully adult physicality while leading his team in a number of fundamental statistical measures. Furthermore he plays the position at which a vacancy is probably pending in the fashion the club prefers. He did not initially thrive playing for Ryan Richter in 2025. But after being loaned away to Lexington, he returned with a new mind set and was effective for Richter at the end of the 2025 season. 

Our cracked, cloudy, inaccurate crystal ball predicts that Olney will be given a serious chance to fill captain emeritus Alejandro Bedoya’s roster spot if Bedoya retires as a player.

 Postscript: A voice from the past

Former Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc has been kind enough to comment for publication on both Anderson and Olney who played for him this season at USL-C side Brooklyn FC. With fullest thanks we quote him verbatim and in full.

“Anderson: Started really strong. Played both as a #9 and #11 in our system. His best performances came when he played as a #9. Became a man-marked player by the opposition after the first 5-6 matches. Had to adjust to not having space to operate after that. Grew as a player and his performances in Brooklyn opened the door for the move to Lyngby.”

“Olney: Very good season for CJ who was a late addition to our inaugural roster after he completed preseason in Philadelphia. Played predominantly as an #11 and #7 in our system. Once he got comfortable with the level he grew into his role in the group. He was a consistent starter for us, and finished the season as one of the top young players in the USL.”