The Philadelphia Union made it all the way to the MLS semifinals before a COVID outbreak ravaged the team. It was excruciating. They were missing 11 guys in a 2-1 home loss to New York City, and barely missed out on their first-ever trip to MLS Cup.

But life goes on, and they need a striker badly, somebody to score goals. A mystery source popped up with some information earlier this morning, so I went with it:

Kudos to the source, who got it right. The Union brought in Julian Carranza, on loan from fellow MLS Club Inter Miami CF (yeah, it’s a dumb name).

Here’s the press release:

CHESTER, Pa. (Dec. 23, 2021) – Philadelphia Union announced today that the club has acquired Julián Carranza on loan from Inter Miami CF in exchange for a natural second round pick in the MLS SuperDraft 2022 presented by adidas. The 21-year-old will be added to the Union’s active roster immediately and will occupy a Young Designated Player spot. Carranza will be on loan with the Union through the end of the year with an option to make the loan permanent.

“We’re excited to welcome Julián to the Philadelphia Union and add a promising young attacker with a lot of potential to our roster,” said Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner. “He is aggressive in the box and brings the versatility of a natural center forward who fits the profile of a striker we were looking for, as well as our style of play. We look forward to welcoming him to the team and watching him develop in our system.”

Carranza signed with Inter Miami CF in July 2019 from Club Atletico Banfield in the top Argentine league, Primera Division. He became one of the first two players ever signed by Miami. In his two seasons with Miami, he has scored three goals in 41 matches (11 starts). He recorded his first Major League Soccer brace in a 3-2 victory over Orlando City SC on August 22, 2020,

At 13 years old Carranza moved to Buenos Aires to play for Banfield Academy, eventually joining their senior team where he played 48 matches, registering 11 goals and two assists in that time.

Internationally, Carranza has been called up to Argentina’s U-17 and U-23 National Team and scored his first goal in the U-23’s friendly against Colombia in September 2019.

Miami actually paid six million dollars for this guy in 2019. He had a loan spell back to his native Argentina, recovered from a foot injury, and was also caught up in Miami’s front office screwing up and being fined for breaking MLS roster and budget rules. The details are a little wordy, and MLS-specific, but all you really need to know is that the Union are playing some Moneyball here and taking a swing on a talented young guy who could go for a change of scenery. Miami is a bit of a mess and the Union environment is more conducive to him getting things going. He’s still only 21 years old and scored a couple of goals for Inter:

Is it an exciting move? Eh. Maybe a 6.3 out of ten. But the Union’s forwards really struggled in the second half of the season, and they need something, anything to improve that part of the team. Carranza is a breath of fresh air, and hopefully he does well here, because the trio of Kacper Pryzbylko, Sergio Santos, and Cory Burke doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence right now.

This is a classic Union move. They won’t spend $6 million on a DP striker, but will take your $6 million DP striker on loan.

Happy Holidays!