photo @PhilaUnionII
It has been clear for months that the Philadelphia Union would sign 17.6-year-old midfielder CJ Olney as a Homegrown player. The only questions were when they would announce it and how long they would sign him for.
They announced it on Tuesday, and the 2025 academy graduate now has a contract until 2028 with an option for 2029.
Olney turned professional with Union II on November 14 last year as a 16-year-old. He joins David Vazquez and Cavan Sullivan in an already fluid midfield of homegrown teenagers that is likely to remain in place for the next two to four years, depending on how each player’s career develops.
The trio will likely form Union II’s midfield in front of defensive midfielder Sanders Ngabo for the final eight games of the senior development team this season. Those eight games will determine the farm team’s role in the playoffs, and the youthful trio will likely have a big impact on the exact nature of that role. Were they to start today, coach LeBlanc’s team would be in second place and would have both a home game and some choice as to which team travels as opponents.
The return of Jack McGlynn and Nathan Harriel from the Olympics should free up Frank Westfield, who has made his home in the first team, from the wing bench. That would give Union II’s left wing a dangerous attacking presence. Olney and Westfield have each scored four goals and seven and six assists respectively for Union II this season. Several of their assists went to Eddy Davis III, who helped him score his 11 goals, a team-leading 10 goals.
More news on the topic
First, the eldest of the youthful midfield trio, 18.5-year-old David Vazquez, has just returned from the 2020 CONCACAF U20 Championship in Mexico, where he won the tournament’s Golden Shoe with three goals and two assists.
Mexico tied the championship match in the sixth minute of stoppage time and won 2-1 in the 120th minute of extra time. Vazquez was substituted at halftime, reflecting the intense sequence of matches in the tournament – the final was played on the second day after the semifinals – and head coach Michael Nsien’s developmental philosophy that almost all of his field players were good enough to be replaceable.
Next, the Union has reported that 24-year-old Haitian defensive midfielder Danley Jean Jacques will join the Union.
Metz has been relegated from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2 for the new season, which begins on August 19. According to Transfermarkt, Danley Jean Jacques joined Metz’s first team from Metz B in July 2022 when it was still playing in Ligue 2. Last season, they managed to gain promotion to Ligue 1, but finished 16th, losing their promotion/relegation playoff match against a Ligue 2 team after extra time.
Jean Jacques made 33 appearances in Ligue 1 during the regular season, playing 2,688 minutes, an average of 81 minutes per appearance last season. In those appearances, he came on as a substitute three times and was substituted off nine times. He played the full game 21 times. He was not included in the squad only once, in a 5-2 loss to Monaco on March 30, 2024. Last season, he had four yellow cards and no red cards.
At international level, Jean Jacques scored Haiti’s goal against Mexico in a 3-1 loss at the 2023 Gold Cup and played the full match. He was substituted in the 77th minute of the subsequent 2-1 loss to Honduras.
In Group B of League A in the 2023-2024 Concacaf Nations League match, he started the first two games, played the entire first and was substituted in the second half of the second. He did not play in the next two games and we cannot say if he was substituted.
Impact on Jean Jacques’ squad
Assuming a transfer does happen, it will primarily affect two players in Union’s squad: defensive midfielders Jose Martinez (30.0) and Sanders Ngabo (20.1). Jean Jacques’ age (24) is a difference. With each of them, an obvious question arises: are they leaving?
- There are rumors circulating on the Internet that the Pumas have their eye on Martinez.
- Does Lyngby want Ngabo back after Union II proved he is healthy?
- Ernst Tanner recently confirmed the existence of the Danish relationship in a podcast with digital club reporter Sage Hurley, but otherwise went into little detail.
- The Union’s contract signing announcement last November stated that Ngabo had a two-year contract for 2024 and 2025 with options for 2026 and 2027. His previous contract with Lyngby reportedly ran until 2024.
A third effect of the Jean Jacques signing could be the move of Jesus Bueno from defensive midfield to floating midfield, where he appears to replace Alejandro Bedoya, which is how Jim Curtin seems to have used him recently.
The other connection to Bedoya is that the captain, like Jamiro Montiero, came to Union from Ligue 1.
