Jakob Glesnes awaits an emotional reunion with Dániel Gazdag as the Union host Columbus

When the Union sold Dániel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew last month, they knew it wouldn’t be long before the team’s all-time leading scorer would return to Subaru Park.

That moment will happen Saturday, when the teams play what will be a battle of first and second place in the Eastern Conference (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

It will no doubt be emotional for Gazdag, who has said he won’t celebrate if he scores out of respect for the fans. It will be emotional for those fans, who might aim a few choice words toward the front office if he does.

It will also be emotional for Gazdag’s former Union teammates who will now line up against him, especially veterans Jakob Glesnes, Alejandro Bedoya, and Kai Wagner. Not only did they play together for many years, but their wives and young children are all close off the field.

“Dániel is a really, really good friend of me and my family, and also he was a really good teammate,” Glesnes said. “But when the whistle goes off on Saturday, it doesn’t matter if it’s your friend or not. Then it’s three points that is in our mind and it doesn’t matter who he is.”

The Crew announced Wednesday that they’ve given Gazdag the new long-term contract that the Union wouldn’t, guaranteed through 2027 with a team option for 2028.

» READ MORE: Dániel Gazdag wanted to finish his career with the Union, until he couldn’t

“I’m obviously very happy that I got the extension,” Gazdag told reporters in Columbus on Friday. “I’m very happy to play here in Columbus. I think it’s a very good team, a very successful team, so I would like to have as much as I can in the next years.”

Gazdag has played in three of the Crew’s four games since the deal, with two starts. He didn’t play against Charlotte last weekend because of a calf tweak, but he said Friday that he is recovered and ready to go.

“Fans in Philly are very excited — I’ve gotten so many messages already, they are excited that I’m coming back,” Gazdag said. “Obviously, they sold a lot of Gazdag jerseys while I was playing there, which is really good. I’m proud of what I’ve done in Philadelphia, and I think the fans really liked me as a player, and as a person as well.”

He added that it will be “good to see them, but right now I’m a Columbus Crew player, which I’m really proud of.”

For the third year in a row, the sports business publication Sportico has measured the values of MLS teams against teams from the rest of the world. And once again, MLS came out looking quite good.

» READ MORE: Cavan Sullivan showed his talent in his first Union start, but also how far he has to go

While the top 15 are all in Europe, 19 of the next 35 are from the North American circuit. That includes the Union, at No. 40 overall and No. 13 in MLS, with an estimated value of $700 million.

Sportico said its calculations were based on publicly available financial statements and consultants’ research, and its own estimates to fill in the rest.

Notably, the values include “real estate and related businesses.” That helps MLS teams, which own a lot of land, from stadiums to practice facilities and youth academies, and the Union are definitely one of those.

The Union have been in the top 50 each time. Last year, they ranked No. 34 overall and No. 11 in MLS, albeit with a lesser value of $685 million; and in 2023, they ranked No. 43 overall and No. 15 in MLS at $555 million.

Teams the Union stand above in Sportico’s top 50 include the English Premier League’s Bournemouth and London-based Brentford and Crystal Palace; Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt; and Portugal’s Lisbon-based Benfica, the country’s biggest team.

» READ MORE: The Union will host Eintracht Frankfurt in a friendly this summer, a homecoming for Paxten Aaronson

Since Sportico only publishes the top 50, we also know other notable teams the Union rank above. England’s Fulham (another London club) and Nottingham Forest didn’t make the list, nor did Italy’s Lazio of Rome or France’s Marseille.

Spain and Germany, meanwhile, have just three teams each in the 50, though most are in the top 15: No. 1 Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid from the former, and Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Frankfurt from the latter.

Just two French teams made it — Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon — and just one each made it from the Netherlands (Ajax of Amsterdam) and Portugal (Benfica).

Perhaps most significantly for MLS, only two Mexican teams are in the top 50: Mexico City superpower Club América and Chivas of Guadalajara. Monterrey didn’t make the cut despite having a modern stadium that will host World Cup games next year, and crosstown perennial power Tigres UANL also finished outside the rankings.

» READ MORE: Three generations of Northeast Philadelphia’s Sullivans have made soccer history in the U.S. Open Cup

No teams from South America made the top 50, even those from Brazil and Argentina with famous names and big fan bases.

Los Angeles FC has the highest value of any MLS team at $1.28 billion, no surprise with its stadium on prime city real estate. Inter Miami, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Atlanta United, and New York City FC also clear the $1 billion mark.

Speaking of land the Union own, progress continues on the franchise’s construction of a multisport facility across the practice fields from Subaru Park. Team president Tim McDermott gave a hard-hat tour of the site before Wednesday’s Open Cup game, and while it’s a lot of steel and concrete right now, things are starting to come into place.

Officially called the WSFS Sportsplex, the facility will have two courts usable for basketball and volleyball; a sports performance center with a gym; a physical therapy office; and a range of event spaces.

The soccer facilities will include an interesting foray into sports science that the Union are calling the Striker Lab. A range of cameras and computers will analyze a player’s shooting technique and offer analysis of how to improve.

» READ MORE: Bradley Carnell’s gamble on starting Chris Donovan paid off in the Union’s win over CF Montréal

The site will also have dedicated spaces for the Union’s reserve and youth academy teams. A 1,000-seat grandstand will go up along the exterior of the enclosed turf field (which is already in use) to make that the site for the Union reserve squad’s games. There’s also room to reconfigure or expand the facility to host a women’s team if one comes along.

McDermott said he expects construction to be done by late July or early August.