New Union striker Bruno Damiani is cleared to make his debut in Saturday’s home opener

New Union striker Bruno Damiani’s visa paperwork has been cleared, manager Bradley Carnell announced Thursday, so the team’s club-record signing is eligible to play in Saturday’s home opener against FC Cincinnati (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

Although the Union introduced Damiani last week, his visa wasn’t fully processed yet. It was sorted out in the last few days, and as is custom, the Uruguayan briefly left town for the final steps.

Exactly how much Damiani plays Saturday remains to be seen. He trained separately from teammates in the portion of Thursday’s practice that was open to the media. But the fact that he’s available is enough for now.

There’s good news on the injury front, too. Right back Nathan Harriel, who missed all of the Union’s preseason games with a quadriceps injury, will be ready for action on Saturday.

“Nate’s trending in the right direction,” Carnell said. “He’s been training with us this week, full go, so he definitely belongs to the available roster.”

» READ MORE: The Union wanted Bruno Damiani for more than a year. Now he's the team's new record signing.

Harriel has some new competition in rookie Frankie Westfield, who was great in his first-team debut in Orlando. But it’s no slight on Westfield that Cincinnati is a different beast, even though the Union will be at home. This winter, the visitors bought attacking midfielder Evander for $12 million and striker Kévin Denkey for $16.2 million, an MLS-record transfer fee until Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath topped it a few days later at $22 million.

Denkey already has three goals in Cincinnati’s three games so far, two in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and one in MLS play, and Evander has a goal and an assist. So Harriel’s experience might be in order.

New centerback Ian Glavinovch is also progressing as he deals with his own muscle injury that limited him during preseason training.

“We’re pushing him as we can, and he’s available,” Carnell said. “It’s just tolerance, and there’s a couple of maintenance issues there we’re going on with. But he’s available and ready to play this weekend.”

» READ MORE: Union win season opener in stunning fashion, 4-2 at Orlando City

In just over two weeks, the stars of the U.S. men’s soccer team will gather in Inglewood, Calif., for the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals. It’s expected to be the last time before the 2026 World Cup that the Americans’ entire A squad is together for an official competition, instead of the friendlies they’ll play most of the rest of the way. So this event is a big deal.

The first step for manager Mauricio Pochettino in picking a 23-player roster is naming a 60-player preliminary list from which he’ll choose the squad. That list was announced Monday and had 12 players with ties to the Union — by far the most of any MLS team.

Two of the 12 are current Union players: Harriel and midfielder Indiana Vassilev, recently acquired in a trade from St. Louis City SC.

Six played professionally here and have since moved elsewhere: goalkeeper Matt Freese (New York City FC), defenders Mark McKenzie (Genk, Belgium) and Auston Trusty (Celtic, Scotland), and midfielders Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, England), Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht, Netherlands), and Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo).

The other four were in the Union’s youth academy growing up, but turned pro elsewhere: goalkeeper Zack Steffen (now with the Colorado Rapids), defender George Campbell (CF Montréal), winger Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, Italy), and striker Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps).

» READ MORE: While his brother starred in the Catholic League basketball playoffs, Frankie Westfield starred in his Union debut

They won’t all make the final 23, but at least six range from likely to locks: both Aaronsons, Pulisic (of course), McKenzie, Steffen, and Trusty.

Longtime Union captain Alejandro Bedoya has played with almost all of them, whether for club or country, and has played against the rest over time. So he appreciates as well as anyone that even if some of the ties don’t weigh much, they all count.

“Twelve — wow,” he said. “I think it’s a testament to the vision that the Grahams [the family who bankrolls the youth academy] had, and ownership, to get a first-of-its-kind [setup] here in the States. … Housing, schooling, and all the support for talented youth players who have aspirations to turn pro.”

Bedoya saw many of those players not just as teammates in the pros, but as prospects when they were on the way up. He saw their work ethic as they progressed, and has enjoyed following their success.

“To see them be successful beyond the Union, in Europe, and now with the national team, that’s everything that this club has ever wanted,” he said.

» READ MORE: A Catholic League title and Union debut: No family had a better weekend than the Westfields from Northeast Philly

And while some trophies would be nice, too (as he has said often over the years), the Union’s track record of success at development makes the club even more attractive for young prospects who want to reach soccer’s biggest stages.

“That’s just the easiest recruitment tool you have,” Bedoya said. “The proof of concept is right there.”

In the wake of MLS’s season-starting roster compliance deadline, the league published salary cap classifications for all of its players on Thursday.

There are a lot of different classifications, thanks to MLS’s complex rule book. The big ones are Designated Players, who always catch the eye, and under-age-22 players picked for special treatment.

Teams are allowed to have either three DPs and three under-22s, or two DPs and four under-22s, and teams that pick the latter get a bonus of up to $2 million in extra cap space.

Though the three-and-three model gets bigger headlines, the two-and-four’s bonus is attractive. And given the Union’s history of spending less on salaries than other teams, one might expect the club to go that way.

But this year, they’ve gone three-and-three. The DPs are attacking midfielder Dániel Gazdag and strikers Damiani and Mikael Uhre; and there are just two under-22s for now, centerback Olwethu Makhanya and attacking midfielder Quinn Sullivan.

» READ MORE: The Union likely won’t be good this year, but they might still be interesting

Among the other classifications, players with international roster spots are also worth tracking. Each team gets seven spots, and they are tradable. The Union have filled their seven, with Jesús Bueno making room for newcomers by getting a U.S. green card this winter.

Last year, MLS created a new classification called “off-roster homegrowns,” which allows teams to offer first-team contracts to academy products who might not be ready for the first team yet. Those offers are valuable because once foreign clubs start chasing MLS teams’ prospects, there’s competition to sign them. The Union have lots of experience with that, from Cavan Sullivan on down.

It’s no surprise that the Union have taken full advantage of the rule. Five players are currently in off-roster spots: centerback Neil Pierre, outside back Frankie Westfield, and forwards Eddy Davis, Sal Olivas, and Nelson Pierre.

Players keep the status until they’ve played six regular-season games, and contests outside the regular season, such as in the U.S. Open Cup, are exempt. That’s an increase from last year’s four total appearances.

With Pierre behind Davis and Olivas on the depth chart, the Union loaned Pierre to the Vancouver Whitecaps’ reserve squad for the year. Union sporting director Ernst Tanner and Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster are both German, and longtime acquaintances.

» READ MORE: An analysis of the Union’s roster at the start of the 2025 season