Estimating Philadelphia’s 2026 Costa Del Sol journey squad – The Philly Soccer Web page

Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union

At the Philadelphia Union’s end-of-season press convention with head coach Bradley Carnell and Director of Academy and Professional Development Jon Scheer, Carnell talked about the primary workforce would once more journey to the acute south of Spain early in 2026’s preseason. The Costa del Sol is the place many European groups collect to coach after their winter breaks, and final 12 months the Union scrimmaged Slavia Prague of Czechia and Aarhus Gymnastikforening (AGF) of Denmark.

Because of the Concacaf Champions Cup (C C Cup), it’s nearly sure that the Philadelphia Union will start its season with 9 video games within the first 32 days, one recreation each third or 4th day for a month on common. Full squad depth and full squad conditioning might be paramount in preseason.

This 12 months Danish aspect FC Nordsjaelland has already introduced it can scrimmage Philadelphia on Friday, January twenty third at a time to be decided. But Philadelphia has not but printed that element. After all they’re nonetheless signing gamers and ready for Major League Soccer to approve these contracts. For instance, they introduced Ben Bender’s return Wednesday and Alejandro Bedoya’s Thursday.

(Writer’s word: Less than quarter-hour after this put up was printed, FC Midtyjlland of Denmark’s prime flight tweeted they’ve signed former Union striker Mikael Uhre after he handed his medical. I’ve edited the textual content the place applicable.)

within the textual content the place applicableLast 12 months at Marabella

In 2025 we predict Philadelphia flew to town of Malaga, in Grenada, Spain through London, England,  after which as soon as in Andalusia they bussed to Marbella on the precise Costa del Sol. That would have been 10-plus hours within the air plus a layover of some hours in London in the event that they flew commercially. We thought the journey will need to have consumed most of a 24-hour day.

Although there was by no means an official announcement of Philadelphia’s 2025 Marbella journey squad, they took 30 gamers. We deduced that from direct statement and different reviews of the 2 preseason matches, printed images in membership digital reporter Sage Hurley’s invaluable posts, and feedback made by head coach Bradley Carnell in press conferences.

Because in earlier preseasons the Union’s previous has usually been prologue, we assume roughly 30 gamers will once more journey to the palm bushes and sunshine of what the Moors used to name al-Andalus earlier than 1492’s closing reconquista.

Our methodology

First we are going to checklist all of the gamers whom we predict may be in camp with the primary workforce as they collect this coming Saturday, January tenth in Chester.

Additional kids might be in Chester, too, however they’re having their progress checked and should not but candidates for the primary workforce. We place 16.5-year-old Union II striker Malik Jakupovic on this class since final time we noticed him play he was not but bodily prepared for MLS itself.

Next, we are going to slender our checklist to thirty.

Step one – the 39

Below are the 39 gamers we estimate to be Philadelphia’s present head-of-the-professionals-list (or seemingly quickly to change into so.) Typos in each charts are consider to facilitate structure.

• The two exponents after participant names give the weeks we predict have elapsed since their respective knee surgical procedures.
• The 5 pound-signs point out 4 2025 Union II gamers and one academy newbie whom we count on will stay within the group at some stage this season,
• We omit academy newbie left again Jordan Griffin (17.2-years-old) as a result of we suspect different groups could also be extremely . Left-footed left backs are scarce. Our intuition might be improper since we’ve seen no proof for it.

Step two – the 30

Here is our greatest guess at who will go to Spain.

We left the 2 surgical procedure rehabilitating-and-retraining gamers at house in Philadelphia with their amenities and medical workers, particularly Quinn Sullivan and Pierce Holbrook. Neither is new to the squad and its methods, so lacking the team-building facets of preseason is much less crucial.  Until he obtained damage Holbrook had already change into the fourth keeper for first workforce practices though he was, and doubtless nonetheless might be, contracted to Union II.

Unlike final 12 months’s habits we  omitted 2025’s Union II kids who could also be promoted to off-roster Homegrown contracts afterward. Our alternative could also be improper.

Last 12 months all 4 candidates who later grew to become off-roster Homegrowns went to Spain. They had been 2024 Union II gamers. All have been introduced as new off-roster Homegrowns solely  after getting back from Spain in early February. Marbella had been the proving floor for Frank Westfield, Neil Pierre, Sal Olivas, and Eddy Davis.

Were the 2 returning out-of-contract veterans to not have returned, attacking mids Willyam Ferreira (16.9-years-old) and Kellen LeBlanc (17.8) may need gotten an opportunity to show themselves. They nonetheless would possibly if Carnell is prepared to work with a 32-man squad. He does want extra depth than final 12 months. We suppose striker Stas Korzeniowski (22.9) will definitelygo to Spain .

At the second the Union’s schedule has 42 sure video games, barring catastrophe in opposition to Defence Force from Trinidad & Tobago. We assume they won’t advance out of the second spherical of the C C Cup in opposition to Club America or part one of many Leagues Cup. The different variable is the 59-day — no, that’s not a typo — break for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There may be some unreported, unpublished, closed door scrimmages in the direction of the top of these two months for tune-up functions.