Union star Andre Blake signs a new multiyear contract extension

The deal keeps the team’s most important player in town at least through the 2026 World Cup.

Star goalkeeper Andre Blake has a new contract with the Union that's guaranteed through 2026, with a team option for 2027.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff

Updated May 23, 2024, 12:47 p.m. ET

Published May 23, 2024, 10:37 a.m. ET

The Union announced Thursday morning that they’ve signed star goalkeeper Andre Blake to a new multiyear contract, guaranteed through 2026 with a team option for 2027.

The deal should keep the team’s most important player in town through the 2026 World Cup, which could be when Blake finally plays on soccer’s biggest stage with Jamaica’s national team.

It also gives the 33-year-old more long-term stability, which he has openly wanted. Earlier this month, Blake publicly aired his frustrations over the slow pace of talks in a May 1 Instagram post that said: “When you are no longer happy it’s time …”

Blake is in the last guaranteed year of his current deal, which had a team-held option for next year. This takes care of that and then some.

“He has shown himself to be one of the best goalkeepers in North America, and along with his proven sporting value has taken on a leadership role both on and off the field,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. “His guidance will play an important role in the further development of our young players and the team’s success. We’re happy to have reached an agreement to keep him here in Philadelphia.”

Blake joined the Union a decade ago when the team traded up for the No. 1 pick in the 2014 college draft and selected the University of Connecticut star. He became the Union’s starting goalkeeper a year and a half later and has kept the role ever since.

His 283 career appearances are the most of any Union player, and it’s hard to argue against him being the most important player in the team’s 15-year history.

“The best goalkeeper in all of MLS will continue to play here in Philadelphia, where he’s won us a ton of games through the years,” manager Jim Curtin said in his weekly news conference Thursday. “It’s been amazing to watch Andre grow on the field, off the field, as a father, as a player. His leadership has increased and his voice in the locker room has become so powerful, and I think he does things in such an impressive, professional, humble way that makes me very proud as one of the leaders of this group.”

Unfortunately, Blake has missed the last four games with a knee injury. Even worse, the Union haven’t yet been able to figure out its root cause, despite consultations with multiple doctors.

So while Curtin didn’t want to rule Blake out of Saturday’s game at Charlotte FC (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) — which will be played on artificial turf, a perennial risk for knees — he knew he had little choice.

“We’re still getting to the bottom of exactly what’s going on with his knee,” Curtin said. “Not likely for this weekend, but we’ll get to the bottom of exactly what’s bothering that knee, and once we do, put a plan in place to get him back soon as possible.”

It’s expected that Blake will be in town for two more Union games — May 29 vs. Toronto FC and June 1 vs. CF Montreal, both at home — before heading off to Jamaica’s national team for most of June. The Reggae Boyz play their opening 2026 World Cup qualifiers on June 6 and 8, then start play in the Copa América on June 22.

» READ MORE: The full Copa América draw and schedule

Union fans will want to circle Jamaica’s June 30 Copa group stage finale against Venezuela, because it could see Blake and Damion Lowe face Union teammates José Andrés Martínez and Jesús Bueno.

If Jamaica advances from a group that also includes Mexico and Ecuador, it could face Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the quarterfinals on July 4.

Curtin said “it would be the hope” to have Blake playing again before joining Jamaica. But he signaled that neither the team nor the player want to rush him back.

“Just like you guys, there’s coaches, there’s teammates — there’s, I’m sure, a whole Jamaican federation that is wondering the same thing we are,” Curtin said. “But he knows his body best, and at this time it doesn’t make sense to risk further injury or push in a way that causes a setback or anything like that. So we’ll be smart about it.”