Union sign midfielder Jack McGlynn to new contract

If a team in Europe wants to acquire young Union midfielder Jack McGlynn, perhaps like how Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt recently signed Paxten Aaronson, that team is on notice to pay up.

The Union announced Tuesday that McGlynn has signed a new contract with the team, guaranteed through 2025 with team options for 2026 and 2027.

A 19-year-old product of the team’s youth academy, McGlynn turned pro in 2020, made his debut in ‘21, and promptly started turning heads. His ability not just as a passer but as a tempo-setter have drawn raves since Day One, especially his precocious knack for knowing how to slow a game down in possession.

Those skills have also drawn the U.S. men’s national team’s attention. McGlynn has featured regularly for the under-20 team, including in last year’s Concacaf tournament that ended the American men’s team’s 16-year Olympics drought. The odds are very good that McGlynn will be on the team that takes the field in Paris next year, and he almost made last month’s senior team squad.

And as everyone who watches has seen by now, the New York native has some moxie. His highlight reel is growing fast: the ice-in-his-veins penalty kick against Nashville in the 2021 playoffs, a pinpoint free kick last July vs. Houston for his first MLS goal, a dazzling flick to beat New York Red Bulls centerback Aaron Long soon thereafter.

Ask McGlynn’s hometown team, too. New York City FC passed over McGlynn back in the day, opening the door for his Scranton family ties to get him into the Union’s academy. In last year’s Eastern Conference final, he carved the Pigeons open with a cross-field pass that sparked the game-winning goal.

That capped off a year when McGlynn had the Union’s best individual passing percentage, 86.4%, completing 548 passes out of 634 attempts.

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If you missed that stat at the time, you’re far from alone. McGlynn played 1,312 minutes last year, the fewest of any Union player to reach four figures. His achievements were overshadowed by Dániel Gazdag’s MVP candidacy, Alejandro Bedoya wearing the captain’s armband, and Leon Flach’s impressive growth as a two-way player.

But at a certain point, the fact that Flach played nearly triple the minutes (3,118) of McGlynn wasn’t up to the players. It was up to manager Jim Curtin, and it will be up to him again this year.

Yes, McGlynn has work to do on the defensive side. He’s said as much. But there’s little doubt that he can, with so much of his career in front of him. Then it will be up to Curtin to decide how to deploy him, with Andres Perea boosting the midfield’s depth and Curtin readying multiple formations for this year.

If you’re used to watching McGlynn work on the sides of a 4-4-2 diamond, this year could be different. In Sunday’s preseason scrimmage against New England, the Union started in a 5-3-2, with McGlynn and José Andrés Martínez behind Gazdag in the three. The second half saw a 4-3-2-1, with Jesús Bueno, Flach and Bedoya behind Perea and Joaquín Torres. McGlynn could have gone in multiple spots in that setup.

What matters most is that he plays. As long as he does, the rest will sort itself out — including the line of European suitors that will likely show up at Subaru Park.

”Jack is another clear example of how our commitment to both developing and trusting our academy players allows the next generation of young talent to excel in Philadelphia,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. “He can do special things on the ball, and we believe he is still far from his peak as a player. We are happy to have reached an agreement to keep him with the Union for the next few years and continue his development.”

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