Philadelphia Union preseason roster includes a trialist, Steel signee & academy trio

Twenty-seven players under first team contract are joined on the Philadelphia Union’s preseason roster by a new Bethlehem Steel FC signing, three teenagers from the academy and a 21-year-old trialist, the team announced Friday.

The lone trialist on the roster is holding midfielder Omar Castro, a 21-year-old Florida native. Castro has played in Germany since 2013 with the U19s and reserve team for second division club Eintracht Braunschweig.

The Philadelphia Union Academy contingent includes U19 and Steel FC teammates Brenden Aaronson, Tomas Romero and Michael Pellegrino. All three are from South Jersey and made their way into the Steel FC lineup last season.

Romero, a goalkeeper, was on the preseason roster a year ago along with Anthony Fontana, who was officially added to the first team roster as a homegrown player last month.

Recent Steel signing Olivier Mbaizo joined the team in Clearwater after training with the first team in Philadelphia and Chester. The 20-year-old defender from Cameroon has been on the Union’s radar for about a year and while he’s signed to a USL deal for now could end up earning a roster spot because of his versatility.

“He plays very well,” head coach Jim Curtin said of Mbaizo in a press conference on Thursday. “He’s shown that he has versatility along the whole back line. There is a language barrier so we’re working through that in terms of communication, the stepping, the dropping, the timing of our movements but (he’s) a kid that is in very good shape.”

The Union currently have three first team roster spots available and can sign a fourth player to a first team contract if they are sent on a season-long loan to Steel. Seven of the eight international roster spots are accounted for on the roster, but the Steel still have three spots available that can be filled by international players on loan from the first team.