Union phenom Cavan Sullivan has reportedly agreed to a deal with Manchester City

If you think Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski are big deals in sports reporting, get to know Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian reporter and influencer is the most famous name in the madcap world of reporting on international soccer’s transfer market, with more than 20 million followers on X and 27 million on Instagram. When he mentions a player, that name takes off like a rocket — as the Union’s Chris Donovan can attest to, after word of his new contract in December was given to Romano to break.

On Sunday morning, it was Cavan Sullivan’s turn to get launched. Romano’s report that English superpower Manchester City is “closing in on” Sullivan wasn’t surprising, since City has been the leading candidate for a while. But it was certainly the highest-profile claim yet, and Romano’s assertion of “deal agreed” took things further down the road than they’ve been.

Of greater short-term consequence was a report by the Athletic that Sullivan has turned down the Union’s many attempts to get him to turn pro here first, then go to Europe after a couple of years. One source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer that the Union’s offer isn’t just the biggest in team history for an academy product, but perhaps the biggest such offer in MLS history.

The current high bar is believed to have been set by what the New York Red Bulls gave Julian Hall as a 15-year-old last year. The full financials of that deal aren’t known, because the league never discloses details up front. All we know is the annual salary figure published by the MLS Players Association.

Nor would the Union put numbers on their offer to the 14-year-old Sullivan, but the source said it would top Hall in overall total. Hall earned $167,685 last year, the first of a 3½-year contract.

» READ MORE: 'The sky's the limit' for Cavan Sullivan, the best prospect in Union history

Money isn’t the issue here. Whatever the Union would pay Sullivan, they’d make it back plus a lot more when they sell him abroad.

It obviously isn’t an issue for Manchester City, either. The reigning European champions would gladly blow anything else out of the water, including the rest of Europe. Sullivan’s suitors so far have reportedly included fellow superpowers Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, and Real Madrid.

From a pure soccer perspective, it would make sense for Sullivan to develop with the Union for another couple of years. He can’t officially go abroad until his 16th birthday on Sept. 16, 2025, because of FIFA rules on international movement of minors.

And it’s only because he has a German passport — valid in European Union countries — that he would be able to go abroad before age 18. Because England isn’t a member of the EU, he can’t play for Man City until then. So he’d start with Belgium’s Lommel SK, one of the many other European clubs that City’s ownership runs as farm teams.

Some fans wonder whether Sullivan is ready to play for the Union’s first team right now. Teenage pros in the MLS ranks are a common sight these days, after all, and could that entice him to stay home?

The short answer comes from looking at him: He’s as small as an average 14-year-old. The long answer comes from Union reserve team coach Marlon LeBlanc, who had Sullivan with his squad in preseason. Skill-wise, his talent is clear, but physically, LeBlanc said last Thursday that Sullivan was “overloaded” in the preseason — and injured as a result.

» READ MORE: The next stop for 14-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan is the Union’s reserve team

Those words are a sign that Sullivan isn’t fully ready for a higher level yet. Though LeBlanc said Sullivan will play with the reserves this year, he’s back with the under-17s right now to regain his fitness and play in the prestigious Generation adidas Cup youth tournament later this month.

Neither the Union nor many outsiders can shake the sense of another possibility. City Football Group also owns MLS’s New York City FC. What if the powers that be try to make Sullivan’s first destination the Bronx, not Belgium? It would be the ultimate gut punch to a Union organization that has beaten NYCFC five straight times, including the 2022 Eastern Conference final.

If that trick was tried with Sullivan, the Union would immediately file a tampering charge and demand a heap of money. Because the Union have made him an offer, they hold his MLS rights until age 23, a source with knowledge of the matter said. It would be a scene if the league enforces the rules in that situation — and even more of a scene if it bends the rules to get Sullivan on the field in America’s biggest city.

One more question is circulating behind the scenes, and no one has answered it publicly yet. Are any other factors at play? Sullivan’s father, Brendan, is a teacher at YSC Academy, the soccer high school that the Union run for their top prospects. Cavan is a student there. His oldest brother, Quinn, is a player on the Union’s first team, and has blossomed this year into a stalwart starter.

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Brendan and his father, Larry, coached Union manager Jim Curtin as a collegian at Villanova. Jim’s brother Jeff is an agent who represented Quinn for his first few years as a pro, until Quinn recently moved to big-time agency Wasserman — which also represents Cavan.

Sullivan’s agent did not return a call requesting comment on Sunday, and the family has not returned calls and emails over many weeks reaching out for comment.

While the world knows of Cavan, not everyone at Subaru Park does just yet. A few minutes after Sunday’s final whistle, he was walking toward the Union’s locker room when a security staffer stopped him. Sullivan wasn’t wearing a credential, and the staffer didn’t recognize him.

As Sullivan retreated, the staffer went to notify his colleagues — only to be scolded by one of them for not knowing who Sullivan was. He even said aloud that Sullivan was potentially going to Manchester City.

At least his presence at the stadium Sunday was a sign of some remaining loyalty to the team where he has grown up. The Union’s front office knows how much of a black eye it would be to lose its best-ever prospect for next to nothing.

MLS commissioner Don Garber seems to know, too. On Wednesday, he told the Athletic: “How do we ensure that 14-year-old kid who’s playing in Philadelphia who is rumored to be one of the best young kids in the world — how do we ensure that kid wants to play in MLS, that we could afford to sign him, and he wants to play for one of our clubs?”

Behind closed doors in Chester, the Union hope they still have time to do something, but they know there isn’t much. And they know it will hurt even more when a family with such deep roots in the club lands the black eye-causing blow.