After scoring his third goal in three games, 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan ran to the Philadelphia Union team photographer at the corner of the field on Saturday night, grabbed a small bottle of chalk, put it on his hands and tossed it in the air like the legendary LeBron James, the new Philadelphia 76ers star.
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The Union rising star, once billed as the “best 14-year-old in the world,” is accomplishing a rare feat: Living up to the hype.
Since getting on the field more consistently for Philadelphia beginning in the spring, Sullivan has shown why Manchester City agreed to the unique arrangement with his hometown team in order to secure his signature for the future. With the goal in a 2-0 win over Montreal on Saturday, the winger became the first teenager in MLS history to register a goal contribution in five consecutive games. He also passed Freddy Adu for most goal contributions by a player 16 or younger.
Adu’s name is a reminder, of course, of how much time remains in front of Sullivan and how much can still go wrong. But the unafraid Union homegrown player has become a fun watch in MLS. And it reinforced the (good) dilemma U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino has as he prepares to call in his first roster since the 2026 World Cup.
Cavan Sullivan. What more do we need to say? pic.twitter.com/mouMLoEj2j
— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) September 6, 2026
Pochettino’s team is in the midst of an awkward transition. There’s a group of 2026 World Cup players that remain the best players in the pool. Many are also likely to still be the best for a potential 2028 Copa America and even the 2030 World Cup.
But some are bound to regress. Age and injury will catch others. New faces will surpass them.
And that’s where Pochettino has some interesting decisions to make.
Players like Sullivan and his teammate Neil Pierre; former RSL star Zavier Gozo, who moved to Crystal Palace in the summer window; Orlando City forward Justin Ellis, who has six assists since the World Cup break, including one on Antoine Griezmann’s match-winner this weekend; and Red Bull New York teens Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti are showing their value. Some, like Gozo, are ready to contribute to this U.S. team now. Others, like Pierre, Ellis and Hall, may still need time. Sullivan and Mehmeti, meanwhile, have been making a case that they deserve call-ups more imminently.
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Pochettino’s job is to balance getting these younger players minutes while still pushing the top players in the pool — the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Folarin Balogun. It might mean sacrificing minutes for other players in order to open opportunities for those younger faces to get integrated. That might not be the best short-term answer, but it is the right long-term strategy.
If Sullivan keeps playing like he is, it might be an easier decision to make. The teenager certainly isn’t lacking in confidence. As he recently told Alexi Lalas’ “State of the Union” podcast, he’s already envisioning himself helping the national team. Sullivan attended the U.S. loss to Belgium, but said he got goosebumps watching Alex Freeman’s goal against Australia and that he thought the U.S. “made some cool noise, but I hope 2030 is better.”
“That’s for sure my first thought,” Sullivan said, when asked if he pictured himself playing for the U.S. soon. “I’m watching a U.S. game and I’m being honest with myself, but thinking of that Belgium game, I think I can come into that game on the right side and make a difference, right? You have to believe in yourself, you have to think you can help your team win. Obviously it’s not my team yet, but I’m obviously always dreaming and hoping for call-ups.”
Pierre, the Union’s 6-foot-7, 18-year-old center back is also dreaming of getting the call from Pochettino.
“Short-term goal is to make the camp this coming month,” Pierre said on Apple TV. “The long-term goal is making the Olympic squad. Definitely something I see myself trying to get.”
The potential of two major international competitions — the Copa and Olympics — in the same summer should help and motivate Pochettino’s balancing act. We’ll see this month how he starts that process when he names his roster for four friendlies at the end of September and into October.
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Sullivan may be the most intriguing name to watch — especially with program legends like Tim Howard calling for him to be brought in.
“We don’t produce these players,” Howard recently said on his and Landon Donovan’s “Unfiltered” podcast. “So when you have this player, who Man City already said, ‘Hm, we can get any player in the world. There’s a kid in Philadelphia we really like. And when he’s of age he’s coming to us.’ … This kid is incredible. He’s tough. He’s nasty. He has the skills to back it up. … He should be in the conversation to play in every (USMNT) game.”
Summer transfers make their mark
It was a more-fun-than-usual end of the summer window in MLS, with big outgoing and incoming transfers, and it got me daydreaming about what summers and deadlines could feel like when MLS teams have even more flexibility to compete in the global market.
We’ve been seeing the results of this window already:
– Griezmann, an early summer arrival, scored again for Orlando City and has the Lions pushing their way back into the playoff picture. The French World Cup winner scored for the third consecutive game and has four goals and two assists in his last four games. Orlando is 4-2-2 since the World Cup break and now sits in eighth place in the East, with a U.S. Open Cup semifinal on the horizon, too.
– Another big-name summer addition, Robert Lewandowski, scored again for Chicago. That’s his sixth goal since the start of August, but it was Josh Sargent who stole the headlines with a hat trick as TFC grabbed a point with a late goal in a wild 4-4 draw.
The Fire’s transfer window was interesting, as they opted to reward Philip Zinckernagel with a DP contract rather than land another new big signing, but then reinforced much-needed depth. Sitting in third place in the East, it’s worth watching whether Gregg Berhalter’s side can make a real push down the stretch.
– Casemiro and Breel Embolo both scored as Atlanta and Miami tied, 2-2, and some guy named Leo Messi became the first player in MLS history with 30 goal contributions in three seasons. Messi (18 goals, 12 assists) is chasing a third consecutive MVP trophy as Miami tries to chase down Nashville SC. (I wrote about Messi’s future after retiring from Argentina last week.)
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– Colorado had a very active summer window, but it was Columbus and new signings Santi Rodriguez and Gonzalo Tapia who scored — Tapia’s goal was a clever outside of the foot finish and he capped his night with an assist — and got the result for the Crew, a dominant 3-0 win.
– How about the Portland Timbers? Sell Kevin Kelsy for a club-record fee, but have Vincent Janssen on a free from earlier in the window ready to step up immediately and he responds … with the club’s first MLS hat trick! It snapped a streak of 558 MLS games without one for Portland, which is 4-2-1 in its last seven games and two points clear of the playoff line.
Stars shining elsewhere
– Petar Musa scored twice, including a very late penalty, as FC Dallas dug out of an early 2-0 hole to down Sporting KC, 4-3. What happens with Musa in the coming months bears watching, especially after Dan Hunt came out and said FCD has already started talks to keep the Croatian World Cup striker despite interest.
– Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min scored, but LAFC managed just a point in a 2-2 draw with RSL. LAFC will need both of their stars to get going down the stretch, so they have to be pleased to see Son get the goal and assist. He came very close to netting the winner in the final minutes, too, but saw his breakaway effort heroically blocked by DeAndre Yedlin, effectively a point-saving tackle.
DeAndre Yedlin sliding clearance at the line to reject Son Heung-Min 😱 pic.twitter.com/7RZX1TjEpP
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 6, 2026
Still, the earlier strike was Son’s first goal since Aug. 1 and his first assist since July 22. Perhaps he was spurred on by landing the first pick in LAFC’s fantasy football draft.
