Philadelphia Union's In-League Trades Show Evolution of Acquisitions Under Ernst Tanner

The Philadelphia Union wisely used the in-league Major League Soccer trade market to add to their depth ahead of the 2023 season.

Prior to the 2022 Major League Soccer season, the Philadelphia Union primarily used the in-league trade market to ship off unwanted players for large sums of allocation money.

Union sporting director Ernst Tanner did a fantastic job getting money out of Keegan Rosenberry, C.J. Sapong, David Accam, Derrick Jones, Fafa Picault, Auston Trusty, Jamiro Monteiro, Kacper Przybylko and Sergio Santos. The last of those deals involving Santos took place during the 2022 campaign.

Tanner had the foresight to get the most out of those players while their in-league trade value was high, and before other clubs recognized that they were no longer needed in Chester.

Trusty, who moved to Arsenal and subsequently went on loan to Birmingham City this summer, and Rosenberry are the only two players out of that group that have either kept their level of play from their Union days, or improved on it since being traded.

Tanner mastered the in-league trade market to bring in allocation money that then helped fund the acquisitions brought in from overseas in recent years.

Up until the 2022 season, the Union had not taken advantage of the in-league trade market under Tanner by bringing in new players. That changed with the perfectly-timed acquisition of Julian Carranza from Inter Miami.

Carranza was initially brought in on loan and the Union triggered his option to buy in the summer. That deal sent $500,000 in GAM back to Inter Miami, which seems like a bargain right now given the 22-year-old’s production last season and potential.

Carranza scored 14 goals and contributed nine assists as part of a reworked front three alongside Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag. The trio set a high bar for what the attack should look like in 2023.

The success of the Carranza deal was yet another transfer masterpiece pulled off by Tanner, who has plucked talent from the German third division, as well as the Norwegian, Hungarian and Venezuelan top flights among others during his time with the Union.

Tanner was committed to bringing in his own style of players to MLS, and he avoided the incoming trade market within MLS while he built the foundation. The outgoing trade market, as noted above, brought in plenty of allocation money.

The Union sporting director changed the theme of his acquisition process three times this offseason to improve the depth of the squad. Andres Perea was brought in from Orlando City for $750,000 in GAM over the next two seasons. Joaquin Torres was acquired from CF Montreal in exchange for $500,000 GAM spread across 2023 & 2024. Damion Lowe came in from Inter Miami for $225,000 in GAM, a 2024 first-round pick and Homegrown rights to Shanyder Borgelin.

Philadelphia spent a total of $1.5 million in allocation money to improve their depth with four competitions on the horizon in 2023.

Those moves aren’t the bargain-bin transfers that occurred in previous offseasons. The trades took advantage of the situations each of the three players were in and that allowed Tanner to swoop in to bolster his team’s own depth.

More importantly, the trades show a side of Tanner’s evolution as a sporting director within MLS. He is more willing to explore options inside the league to improve his squad, and if his eye for talent is any indicator, the three moves will improve the Union.

It always made sense for the Union to make their offseason additions from within MLS.

The Union’s wish list contained a backup center back, forward depth and an addition in midfield.

There was little to zero chance of the Union bringing in players from overseas to fill those roles. It would have been a hard ask of an overseas player to move here, adapt to the league and be fine with featuring in a reserve role amid all the changes.

Perea, Torres and Lowe all possess MLS experience, which should help the Union avoid the drop off in form early in the season that they experienced during their first foray into the Concacaf Champions League in 2021.

The Union started the 2021 MLS season with two losses and a draw while they focused on the first two rounds of the CCL. They rightfully sacrificed two results against the New England Revolution ahead of both semifinal legs versus Club America.

Lowe provides experience next to Homegrown center back Brandan Craig. Perea adds a versatile midfielder that can work into a complete midfield swap between CCL and MLS. Torres will be the backup No. 10 to Gazdag and could play in a second striker role as well.

In a week’s time, the Union have answered their depth questions with smart acquisitions within MLS.

Now they have a complete roster to work with for a month as they build up to the start of the 2023 season on February 25.