Danley Jean Jacques Available for Leagues Cup Quarterfinal, Jose Martinez Sitting Out

The Philadelphia Union's newest midfielder is available for selection on Saturday, while a long-time midfielder is on his way out.

The Philadelphia Union received some good news in advance of Saturday’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal against Mazatlan.

Summer signing Danley Jean Jacques will be available for selection. He will replace Jose Martinez in the matchday squad.

Reports of Martinez’s transfer to Corinthians in Brazil came out immediately after the Union’s round of 16 triumph over FC Cincinnati on Tuesday.

I was told that the Martinez-to-Corinthians move came about fairly quickly. Whispers of a potential Martinez sale have swirled around Chester over the last few weeks, but the offer from Corinthians was the first significant one.

I’ll write more about Martinez’s likely move away from the club early next week because that deserves it’s own post, but everything is trending in the direction of him leaving.

The Venezuelan did side work at Friday’s training while the rest of the first team worked out tactics for the Mazatlan match.

Jean Jacques was fully involved in training and he will be a key part of the Union setup moving forward.

One Union staffer told me the Haitian is “athletic as fuck” and that he is a strong ball winner.

The ball-winning qualities stood out to the Union went they scouted new midfielders.

However, Jean Jacques is not a direct positional replacement for Martinez. I was told that the Haitian projects more in the No. 8 role of the Union’s 4-4-2 diamond midfield base.

That means that, at least for the time being, Leon Flach will patrol the No. 6 position. I would assume Jesus Bueno, although he is more of a No. 8, gets some time in the defensive midfield spot as well.

The Union may have to go with two defensive midfielders at some point as well to cover up any potential gaps between the midfield and the center backs.

The Union will not view the Mazatlan match as a walkover. You can’t do that in any knockout competition, but the matchup is far more favorable than it would have been against Cruz Azul.

A win on Saturday guarantees the Union will play at least two more games in the competition.

There is a third-place game once again this year because the top three spots in Leagues Cup come with berths in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The Union will be at home against all of the clubs left in the competition, with the exception of the Columbus Crew.

The Union will visit Columbus in the middle of next week if both the Union and Crew win their respective quarterfinals. A New York City FC win over Columbus combined with a Union win puts the semifinal match at Subaru Park.

Club America, Colorado Rapids, LAFC and Seattle Sounders reside on the other side of the bracket. The three MLS clubs in that section are all lower than the Union in the Leagues Cup ranking, while Club America only has hosting priority until the semifinal.