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Cavan Sullivan is the Real Deal
Published:
The Union won in New York, err, Harrison, New Jersey on Saturday night, extending their unbeaten run to seven MLS games post-World Cup.
16-year-old Cavan Sullivan scored again in the 3-1 triumph:
Everything about this goal is great. Lovely diagonal from Danley Jean-Jacques, then a soft first touch from Cavan into the box. He chops it back with his weaker right foot, puts it on his left, and rips it past a slightly-screened goalkeeper while a defender is crashing down on him.
That’s three goals and four assists now for Cavan since the World Cup break, if you include the Leagues Cup game against Necaxa. He’s started all seven MLS games since Ryan Richter took over for Bradley Carnell as interim head coach, logging 24 shots and 13 key passes as well, which are passes that lead to a shot attempt.
If there’s a silver lining to the Union’s shitty start, it’s that bottoming out removed any kind of inhibition for throwing Sullivan out there and letting him do his thing. You were last place in the league. What’s the harm of starting him? None, which we have now confirmed via Richter giving Cavan plenty of opportunity.
The situation is that Sullivan is off to Manchester City when he turns 18. He’ll be 17 next month, so the Union have him for a little more than a year now, unless he progresses so rapidly that both sides decide to move early, in which he could go play on loan to one of City’s sister clubs, like Girona, or Lommel, or Palermo. Cavan holds a German passport and has some flexibility to move around the EU, but Premier League teams technically cannot sign foreign players under the age of 18, hence the framework for the current deal.
Either way, Cavan is the real deal. He’s a smart and direct player, good attacking chops with a nose for goal. Solid work ethic, high-IQ, comes from a strong soccer family, and tried to fight a Miami player two weeks ago after one of those guys went after his older brother, Quinn. So he’s very much a Philly guy.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com