Neil Pierre, perhaps the best centerback prospect in Union history, signs a first-team deal

It’s fair to say that Neil Pierre knows how good he can be.

It’s even fairer to say that the Union, the U.S. national team program, and a whole lot of scouts at European clubs know how good he can be.

It’s probably fairest of all to say that the 17-year-old centerback isn’t ready to be a starter for the Union’s first team right now. But the time will come, whether by the end of this year or next.

That’s why there was chatter for months about the Union promoting Pierre to a first-team contract from the reserve-team deal he signed at 15 in 2023. On Tuesday, it became official, as Pierre signed through 2028 with a team option for 2029.

Born in Harrisburg and raised in Lebanon, Pa., Pierre moved with his family to Blue Bell while in fourth grade. The move happened because his older brother, Nelson, already was in the Union’s youth academy, so it helped the family to have a shorter drive.

It didn’t take long for Neil to start progressing quickly. He originally was cast as a striker like Nelson, who’s been with the Union’s first team since last year. (He hasn’t played in an official game yet, though, and his future currently is a bit cloudy.) Neil then moved to right back for a short time before settling at centerback.

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“This club showed my pathway since I was 12,” Pierre told The Inquirer. “We went into a meeting with all the coaching staff, and they said, ‘OK, we have this plan for you, and if you trust us, you will succeed.’”

It’s a familiar sales pitch for anyone who has followed the Union over the years. But do the math on Pierre’s age, and you start to realize it’s more than that.

Five years ago, Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie broke into the first team, then won the 2020 Supporters’ Shield and catapulted on to Europe. It’s also a point when Auston Trusty already had two years of pro experience under his belt. (The Union moved on from him in late 2019 after Ernst Tanner became the club’s sporting director because Trusty didn’t fit the style Tanner wanted to play).

All three players are now stalwarts for European clubs: Aaronson at England’s Leeds United, McKenzie at France’s Toulouse, and Trusty at Scotland’s Celtic. They’re also regulars in the U.S. national team pool.

That hadn’t happened yet when Neil Pierre first got that talk from the Union’s coaches. But now that it has, the pathway truly is there for a player who coincidentally plays in McKenzie and Trusty’s role.

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Pierre already is 6-foot-5 and 176 pounds, with remarkable passing skills alongside his defensive tenacity. He has played 33 games for the Union’s reserve team so far, including a run to last year’s MLS Next Pro league title game, and has played for U.S. youth teams at the under-15, under-16, under-18, and under-19 levels.

“Following a standout season with Union II, we are happy to be able to reward Neil with a first-team contract,” Tanner said in a statement. “His combination of size, speed, and defensive strength makes him a great asset to our back line. As a young, dynamic centerback with immense potential, we look forward to continuing and supporting his development.”

This all sets up a turn of phrase that isn’t used lightly: There’s a widespread belief within the Union that Pierre is the best centerback prospect in club history. It’s a big claim to make, and it’s quite possible that Pierre won’t be here long enough to match McKenzie and Trusty’s tenures at Subaru Park. McKenzie played 59 games in three years for the Union, and Trusty played 62 in four.

But when the Union believe in a prospect, they usually don’t mind talking about him, and they’ve talked plenty about Pierre. They know that foreign interest is already serious out there and that Pierre had a training stint with Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach in November.

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One step at a time, though, as Pierre is first to acknowledge.

“This is one of my dreams,” he said. “I always dreamed about playing for my hometown club, so it’s definitely exciting.”

Expect Pierre to be one of three academy products promoted to the first team this preseason, along with 19-year-old outside back Frankie Westfield and 18-year-old forward Eddy Davis. The deals have been all but done for a while — just not officially announced yet.

Westfield signed a reserve team contract in July and served as one of the squad’s captains. The Northeast Philadelphia native had committed to Penn State in late 2023 but did so well with Union II that he decided to turn pro a few weeks before the 2024 college preseason started.

Davis grew up in the Los Angeles area. He moved east in early 2022 to join the New York Red Bulls’ academy but was there for only a few months before moving to the Union. He played for the reserve squad last year as an amateur and was the team’s top scorer with 14 goals.

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Three young academy prospects have been called up to the U.S. under-17 team for this month’s Concacaf World Cup qualifying tournament: left back Jordan Griffin, midfielder Kellan LeBlanc, and forward Jamir Johnson.

LeBlanc is the son of former reserve team coach Marlon LeBlanc. His contract expired after last season, and with Kellan heading toward a pro deal, the Union wanted to avoid any effects, perceived or otherwise, of the father coaching the son at that level.

It’s a noble stance to take, even though it cost the club a coach the front office, other coaches, and players thought highly of. But one need only look at the scandal with Gio and Claudio Reyna a few years ago to see how things can go wrong.

Johnson is the most-touted prospect of the three, and not just because he’s a forward. The 16-year-old helped the Union’s under-17 team win the prestigious Generation Adidas Cup tournament last year.

He has already played nine games for Union II as an amateur and last summer had a trial with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven — where Tanner’s predecessor, Earnie Stewart, is now sporting director. Stewart has brought many Americans to the club, including U.S. national team regulars Ricardo Pepi, Sergiño Dest, and Malik Tillman. He was interested in Jack McGlynn at one point, and his interest in Johnson shows he still keeps the Union in mind.

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