Philadelphia Union sign 14-year-old to MLS deal

Move over Joel Embiid, Bryce Harper and Jalen Hurts. There’s a new star in Philadelphia. And he’s just 14 years old.

Philadelphia Union signed Cavan Sullivan to a four-year deal Thursday, making him the youngest player in team history and the fifthyoungest to sign a deal in Major League Soccer.

Sullivan could become the youngest athlete to play an American professional team sport – and the youngest to debut in a major soccer league – if he debuts with the Union on or before July 29.

“To be totally honest, I’m a pretty boring kid outside of soccer. It’s really my life,” Sullivan said during his introductory press conference. “Soccer, homework, and my dad runs his training facility and I help out a lot there … But soccer is my life. It’s the main thing.”

He’ll join his 20-yearold brother Quinn, also a midfielder, on the Union MLS squad.

Sullivan is a midfielder who shined helping the U.S. win its first Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 championship in 2023 as a 13year-old. He scored four goals, earning the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament. He has ascended as a Union Academy product since 2020 to the club’s Under-15 MLS NEXT team, U17 MLS Next team and the club’s second team earlier this year.