Cavan Sullivan: "This is My Home"

The 14-year-old Philadelphia Union academy product talked about signing his first-team contract on Thursday.

CHESTER — Cavan Sullivan is officially part of the Philadelphia Union, a club he calls his own.

Sullivan signed the richest Homegrown Player deal in Major League Soccer history on Thursday.

“The Union means almost everything to me. It’s my club. I’ve been in and around the club since I was a little kid,” Sullivan said on Thursday.

“This is my home. It’s an honor to sign here. It means a lot they see the talent in me in such a young age and I want to prove myself and work for his club and this city and all these fans.”

Sullivan’s talent has been lauded for quite some time now. The Union fought off interest from around the globe to sign the 14-year-old.

“I would say, Cavan in my eyes, is among the top three in talents that I have seen in my 30 years,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said.

Tanner produced a notable comparison when he was asked about where Sullivan stacks up among the players he’s scouted throughout his career.

“I would say it’s pretty comparable, and a more famous example, is when I fetched Dominik Szoboszlai to Salzburg,” Tanner said. “He was also 14 years old when we agreed the deal. What he showed was also amazing. We had the pre-agreement with his father and the agency at the time that he was going to join us instead of Arsenal or other clubs that we in for him at the time. That’s probably the best example.”

All members of the Union staff from Tanner to head coach Jim Curtin to Union II head coach Marlon LeBlanc had the same primary message when they talked about Sullivan.

He has to continue his development, and when the time is right, he will make his first-team debut.

“We never can foresee the career of a young player, but we definitely have the pathway,” Tanner said. “We try to integrate him as good as possible in the second team and train as well there. We need to see how quick he is adjusting to the physical challenges. He already played a little bit. We know this is something different than a friendly game and something different than U-17 tournament by physical standards and opposition.”

“We need to see how quick he adapts there and gets over the level. The next step after that will be training with the first team and then we take it from there,” Tanner said. “Hopefully within a 1-2 year range we can get him some MLS minutes.”

“He’s going to get on the field based on merit, but I’ll just say it publicly, it’s a lot closer than people may realize,” Curtin said. “This game will tell us when the next step comes. It could be in a year, two years, three years, whatever it might be. He’s going to play at the very highest level this sport has. Right now, we think this is the best environment for him to play.”

LeBlanc delivered one of the most important comments on Sullivan’s development into a first-team player. It’s something as simple as sleeping in your own bed each night.

“We’re not rushing for that to happen. When he’s good enough to play, he will be there. I want to make sure that people remember that he is 14 years old,” LeBlanc said. “There’s a psychosocial part to this too. He needs to be a kid too. That will be a big part of his development. Him getting to stay at home in his bed, in his house, with his family is only going to speed that part up too. He gets to do this at his own timeline and process. Trust me he will be ready.”

Sullivan was quick to acknowledge just how much work he has to not just get to the first team, but stay there.

“I know everyone is proud of me and my family. But to be honest nothing really has happened yet and the work starts now. My main goal is to win MLS Cup,” Sullivan said. “There’s still a lot of work to do on my part and a lot of room to grow.”

Sullivan’s first-team debut may not happen for a while, but it was hard not to be excited about the moment. Curtin and LeBlanc gushed with praise about what they’ve seen so far from the 14-year-old in the academy and now with Union II.

“I can tell a quick anecdote of Cavan’s first training session with the team,” Curtin said. “There’s great players and the ultimate sign of soccer, no matter what age you are, is when a practice starts and guys give you the ball, that’s the ultimate sign of respect. Within 10 seconds into the first training session, they gave him the ball. That’s probably the simplest way I can put it. They gave him the ball more and more as the training session went on.”

“I’ve known Cavan since he was eight years old, and first and foremost, he is an incredibly humble kid,” LeBlanc said. “He’s not affected by any of the hype out there. He keeps himself very grounded.”

“He’s super talented, clearly, otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting here having this discussion, but he’s got this attacking mindset that is fearless. He creates goals. He scores goals. He can do it in every fashion. He’s an absolutely fantastic young footballer,” LeBlanc said.

“I think what sets him apart is his mentality. He will come at you five times and you may stop him five times. He’s going to come at you the sixth time and he’s going to get you. It’s that type of mentality that sets him apart from his peers,” the Union II coach continued.

Sullivan earning the No. 6 shirt is significant. Usually, the new Homegrown signings receive higher numbers to start. For example, Sullivan’s older brother, Quinn, received the No. 33 and has kept it.

The younger Sullivan will wear Daniel Gazdag’s old shirt number, and it is one we will see back in the first team in due time.

With the Sullivan signing, the Union hope to continue their mark on developing American players, and in this case, a potential star of the global game.

“We’ve become a club that has set the standard and wants to be the gold standard of youth development,” Curtin said. “We want every young kid in the United States to say I want to play for the Philadelphia Union someday. We will put you on the field. We will not buy someone to replace you. We believe in young players in this country.”