After transferring Mark McKenzie to Belgium’s KRC Genk, the Philadelphia Union needed a replacement at left center back.

After a few weeks of rumored interest, Thursday they made official the signing of Stuart Findlay, a 25 year old from Scottish side Kilmarnock:

Findlay came through the Celtic youth system in Scotland, but didn’t appear for the senior team, instead going on loan to some lower-level Scottish sides, Kilmarnock included. He later joined Newcastle but was again loaned back to Kilmarnock, where he signed permanently in 2018.

He has one appearance for the Scotland national team, and played frequently for their youth teams over the years. On paper, he looks like the perfect replacement for McKenzie, who played on the left side of the Union’s central defense as a naturally right-footed player who improved his passing significantly over the years.

Findlay joins a CB group that also includes Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes, who both played significant minutes last year in a rotation with McKenzie. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue this season, unless Findlay adjusts quickly and slides in as the everyday starter on the left side.

As it stands, the Union’s starting lineup looks something like this:

  1. Andre Blake (GK)
  2. Kai Wagner (LB)
  3. Findlay or Elliott (LCB)
  4. Glesnes or Elliott (RCB)
  5. Ray Gaddis (RB)
  6. Jose Martinez (DM)
  7. Alejando Bedoya (CM)
  8. Jamiro Monteiro (CM)
  9. Anthony Fontana (AM) – they need to sign Brenden Aaronson’s replacement
  10. Kacper Pryzbylko (FW)
  11. Sergio Santos (FW)

Pretty good group, and they’ll probably bring in another #10, and perhaps a striker. They do need reinforcements after seeing Aaronson and Andrew Wooten depart.

Anyway, we had Scottish Football writer Barry Anderson on It’s Always Soccer in Philadelphia to talk about Stuart Findlay, and you can listen to the show here: