Dániel Gazdag signs new deal with the Union, gets raise to Designated Player status

The Union announced Wednesday that Dániel Gazdag has signed a new multiyear contract that makes him a Designated Player.

After scoring a team-record 24 goals and delivering six assists in 2022, Gazdag said just before Christmas that he was working on a new deal to stay here. It didn’t take long for those talks to come to fruition.

Gazdag, 26, spent his first year and a half with the Union earning well below the DP salary threshold. This year, he earned $586,250, in a year when the threshold was $612,500. In 2023, the threshold is set to be $651,250.

“He’s a great fit for our aggressive style of play and we are excited to reward him with a Designated Player contract that keeps him in Philadelphia for the coming years,” sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement.

Along with his raise, Gazdag will get the Union’s No. 10 jersey. He’ll be the ninth Union player to wear soccer’s most famous number on his back. There was none last year, because previous holder Jamiro Monteiro was traded just before the season started. Danny Mwanga was the first, for the Union’s first three seasons (2010-12).

The Union now have three DPs: Gazdag, Julián Carranza, and Mikael Uhre. If all three start the season on the team, as is expected, it will be the first time in Union history that they have three DPs on their roster during a campaign.

Before last season and in 2015, the Union had three DPs on their roster in the preseason. Had Monteiro stayed, it would have been him, Carranza, and Uhre. In 2015, the Union had Fernando Aristeguieta, Maurice Edu, and Cristian Maidana, but Maidana’s cap hit was bought down below the threshold before the season started.