Union sign former academy player Ben Bender to boost attacking midfield depth

The Union added an attacking midfield depth piece on Friday, signing 24-year-old Ben Bender two weeks after he was waived by Charlotte FC.

It isn’t the big-time replacement for Dániel Gazdag that fans have hoped for. But with not much cap space available, it was a move they could make quickly to boost the unit.

It’s also a chance to jump on a player who was once a notable young prospect, but fell out of favor in Charlotte. Bender was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 college draft out of Maryland, and before then the Baltimore native was in the Union’s youth academy from 2015-16.

He played a lot as a rookie and had seven goals and eight assists over his first two seasons. But his minutes dropped late last year, and he hasn’t played at all this year.

Charlotte admitted as much when it waived him, wanting to use the roster spot to sign players at other positions.

» READ MORE: Jakob Glesnes awaits an emotional reunion with Dániel Gazdag as the Union host Columbus

Bender is immediately available for the Union, so he can play in Saturday’s home game against the first-place Columbus Crew (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) if needed. Given how much Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup game took out of the players involved, he might be needed quickly.

“We’ve been following Ben’s development since he joined the Union Academy in 2015 and have watched him become a highly productive young player,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. “He had a standout inaugural professional season and has the ability to be a great finisher. He adds a goal-scoring threat to our midfield, and we look forward to seeing his contributions.”

Another potential downside to the move is that it blocks the progress of academy products CJ Olney and David Vazquez. While Vazquez, 19, made his first-team debut on Wednesday, it was at left back instead of attacking midfield; and Olney, 18, has yet to play for the first team since Bradley Carnell became manager.

Carnell was asked about this in his pregame news conference Friday, and bristled at the idea of a bigger message.

“I don’t think any of that narrative [is true] — we know what we believe in and that’s development,” he said.

Asked specifically about Olney, Carnell bristled again, though he kept the door open.

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan showed his talent in his first Union start, but also how far he has to go

“I don’t think we hand out debuts like candy, right? I think everything has to be earned and everyone develops at different rates,” Carnell said. “I think CJ has great abilities and a great profile. That he hasn’t appeared for us yet — and I say that yet — I think it’s just a matter of time until he gets to that point.”

He described Olney as “on the right track,” and said “that’s up to us in terms of how we develop him around the field with Union II [the reserve squad], and when he does train with us in the first team.”