Bradley Carnell said the Union are 'working closely' with Manchester City on Cavan Sullivan. What does that mean?

A few weeks ago, Union manager Bradley Carnell said something that caused ears to perk up, before fading into the waves of the team’s winless rut.

But it hadn’t quite been forgotten.

In an interview on Apple’s studio show before the March 7 game vs. San Jose, Carnell was asked about Cavan Sullivan’s progress to start the year.

Carnell’s answer started with praise for the teenager’s work, then turned in an unexpected direction.

“We’ve been working closely with Man City as well,” the manager said. “Everyone’s having a collective approach into the development, as we do with every player, and we’ve seen good returns so far.”

What exactly did Carnell mean by “working closely” with Manchester City, the English Premier League giant that Sullivan is set to join at the end of next year for $5 million?

And why was Carnell mentioning that deal in the first place? When Sullivan turned pro with the Union at 14 in May of 2024, City couldn’t say another step was coming, because of English labor laws on minors.

» READ MORE: Union’s Bradley Carnell recognizes the ‘unique situation’ his club is in heading to Montréal

The Union have also been about it all, though more by their choice, and Carnell isn’t the only team staffer who has named City in recent months. Interim sporting director Jon Scheer did so too at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in January.

But it’s one thing to have a handshake deal for down the road, and another to say “working closely.” That merited asking around about. On Thursday, Scheer gave some answers, and some clarity.

“I think any time you have a player that will be at another club in the future, the better Cavan does, it’s going to be better for both of us,” he told The Inquirer. “But to be really clear, Cavan is our player, and he’s got to perform well here every single day and every single week. So we’re in contact with Manchester City, but yeah, in terms of what Cavan does in our environment, that’s up to us.”

There are conversations, and Scheer said the dynamic is similar to the ones the Union have with U.S. Soccer about Sullivan’s progress with youth national teams. And just as Sullivan sometimes joins those youth teams, he has gone over to Manchester a few times for training stints with the club’s youth squads.

» READ MORE: What’s it going to take for the Union to snap out of their downward spiral? Here are two ideas.

But there are boundaries, Scheer said, and he said Manchester City is fine with not crossing them.

“The technical people that we are in touch with are really respectful and professional in all this,” he said. “They give us, and they understand, where there’s a line and Cavan’s our player. So they don’t cross that line. And we’re just trying to make the most out of Cavan, so the better he does, the better it is for everybody.”

It’s still an unusual dynamic, at least by MLS standards. This sort of thing is increasingly common in the soccer world — and not always enjoyable to be sure, but governing bodies aren’t stopping it.

Philadelphia saw another notable example during the Club World Cup last year. Brazilian rising star Estêvão played for Palmeiras against Chelsea, the club he was going to join as soon as the tournament ended, and scored a terrific goal. Chelsea won, knocked Palmeiras out, and Estêvão switched sides a few days later.

(Coincidentally, he might be back in town this summer with Brazil’s World Cup squad for the Seleçao’s group stage game against Haiti.)

What happens if the Union have to go through this again? It will probably be awkward. But Scheer was sure footed before Ernst Tanner’s suspension, and believes he’ll be ready to handle it.

“We want to project out in the future, and we have a lot of talented youngsters in our club, so, yeah, we’re always going to evaluate what’s best for every single player and what’s best for our club,” he said. “So if it makes sense, we’d be open to the communication. We’re happy that Cavan’s career starts with us — but we’re focused on every single day with him.”

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan talks about what should be his biggest year yet with the Union

So far this year, Sullivan has played 325 minutes over eight games across MLS and the Concacaf Champions Cup, with one start in the league and three on the continent. He recorded his first goals and assists for the Union’s first team in the rout of Trinidad’s Defence Force, and notched his first assist in a MLS game this past Saturday against Charlotte.

He also scored a goal for the U.S. under-19 team in a 4-0 rout of Wales’ under-19s in late March, on an American squad with many notable names: Union centerback prospect Neil Pierre (who’s on loan at Denmark’s Lyngby), Borussia Dortmund winger Mathis Albert (Sullivan’s much-hyped teammate at last year’s under-17 World Cup), Eintracht Frankfurt attacking midfielder Marvin Dills, and Seattle Sounders defensive midfielder Snyder Brunell.

“Like with any young player, it’s about consistency,” Scheer said. “But if you look at what he did when he’s away with the U.S. the past couple weeks, he does well there in playing with an older age group. And he came into the [Charlotte] game the other night and makes us better, and comes [up] with an assist.”

It might feel like small consolation when the Union are 0-6-0 in league play heading to CF Montréal, just above the basement at 1-5-1 on Saturday (2:30 p.m., Apple TV). But Sullivan is definitely making progress — if not always in a straight line, still definitely in the right direction.

“There’s so many things that go into the lineup decisions and all of this every single week,” Scheer said. “So the coaches are working hard, the players are working hard. But Cavan is doing well.”