On Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from The Athletic’s Tom Bogert and Sam Lee, both Manchester City- the long-presumed winners of the latest wonderkid sweepstakes– AND Philadelphia Union reached a deal to sign Cavan Sullivan, perhaps the most talked about 14 year old player in the world (certainly amongst American soccer circles).
Cavan Sullivan to heading Manchester City…but not yet
Can an Sullivan is in the process of finalizing what would, according to The Athletic’s sources, be the richest homegrown player deal in Major League Soccer history. The deal would keep Sullivan in Philly until he turns 18, the point at which he’ll be eligible to play in England for Manchester City.
Additionally, it would make him eligible to start playing for the Philadelphia Union first team. That being said, the more likely scenario is that he continues to play for Union II this season, then is given a chance to fight for minutes in the first team heading into the 2025 season. The possible exception will be during the summer, when the first team will be left shorthanded by losing players to international tournaments.
One other caveat with this whole deal: the same sources said that Union and City agreed that Cavan Sullivan would be sent to a different City Football Group team in Europe should his development surpass MLS before his 18th birthday. Sullivan holds a German passport, which means he is eligible to play for teams in the European Union starting at 16 years old, but because of Brexit, England no longer counts. At this time, it is unclear who decides whether he has surpassed MLS.
Once Cavan Sullivan reaches 18, he will go to Premier League and European champions Manchester City in a deal that is “heavy on add-ons”and, as is usually the case in transfers of promising youngsters, features a (hopefully significant) sell-on clause.
The news comes after weeks or speculation and reports that Sullivan would sign for City and be sent on loan to fellow City Football Group side Lommel SK in Belgium when he turned 16. In that scenario, as he is not yet a first team player, Philly would have only received a pittance of a compensation fee instead of the more robust transfer deal they’re now getting.
Cavan Sullivan’s future in Philadelphia
On Sunday, Sullivan made his debut for Union II, coming off the bench and making an instant impact with an assist on the game-winning goal against New England Revolution II. He did this while watched by his older brother, Union first team player Quinn Sullivan, who scored the night before against Portland Timbers. Quinn Sullivan turns 20 today; we can only hope he doesn’t mind his younger brother stealing a bit of his thunder.
There is still one potential wrinkle in the proceedings, should the deal be finalized as reported. Manchester City are facing 115 charges of breaching Premier League Financial Fair Play rules. While proceedings and possible punishments for the breaches are expected to take years, should the Manchester club be hit with a transfer ban and/or a massive points deduction before Cavan Sullivan turns 18, it could possibly impact the transfer, although again, that is all a hypothetical.
However one feels about the ethics of the club he’s joining, the cream of the European crop pursuing an American 14 year old is a monumental step both for Sullivan and for the development of soccer in this country. But we need to find a balance between that and the reality that he is still very, very young.
As unlikely as it is, hopefully the conclusion of this transfer saga can take some of the spotlight off Sullivan and allow him to go back to being a 14 year old player, still learning and improving every day. From Freddy Adu to Julian Greene and everyone in between, we have a habit as American fans of putting a lot of early pressure on promising youngsters. Is Cavan Sullivan the next great American player? Someday he might be, but today he’s just a kid living a dream, and for now, that’s more than enough.
