Union midfielder/forward Quinn Sullivan has a 14-year-old brother in the academy pipeline, and Manchester City is reportedly signing him:

According to Tom Bogert at The Athletic (now with ads), the Union did make a push to keep Sullivan in Philadelphia and have him turn pro here before he inevitably leaves for Europe. Those efforts were apparently turned down, and the intriguing thing in this storyline is how close the family is to the Union. Sullivan’s dad Brendan is a teacher at the team academy and his father, Larry, coached Jim Curtin at Villanova.

You’d think that might make a difference in keeping the best prospect in Union history home, to actually contribute to the first team, but it looks like the big dogs from Europe are going to get what they want. It’s not a surprise, if you’re a soccer person, since this happens all the time, but if you’re a casual, you may be wondering why the Union are developing homegrown Philadelphia players who will never play a single minute for the Union.

Good question! How does one answer it?

Well, for starters, the Union are 15 years old and Major League Soccer started in 1996. It’s gonna take some time before this becomes a top four or top six league that can pay players the most money and give them the best competition and best opportunity. We’ll get there at some point, where staying in Philly is the preferred choice, but for now the best teams from around the world buy the best players and pay the most $$$ for them. What the Union can do is take the money they get for their prospects and reinvest it, either in the academy setup to produce more players, or, god forbid, the first team, which is currently stale and boring.

And it’s not just MLS teams that get raided for talent. Big, historic, successful European clubs like Ajax and Benfica constantly develop and sell players and remain competitive in their respective leagues. The transfer fees or solidarity/training compensation money is recycled and invested smartly and the cycle continues, year after year. It’s something intrinsic to the sport and is both literally and figuratively a foreign concept to four for four casuals who might only keep an eye on the Union from afar.

So yeah, it kinda stinks, but it is what it is. 10 years from now maybe MLS continues its incremental progress, to the point where we’re keeping our best talent at home instead of losing it to the big clubs.