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Additional signings to Philadelphia Union roster may not be imminent

Sporting Director Ernst Tanner said Friday that there will be 1-2 more players brought in but timing of transfer window makes the timetable unclear

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If there are additional players incoming to the Philadelphia Union before they open the 2021 campaign in Costa Rica on April 7, Sporting Director Ernst Tanner wasn’t hinting at any imminent deals on Friday.

Tanner talked to the media about new signing Stuart Findlay Friday morning and the conversation quickly turned to questions about whether there will be more additions to the roster in the coming weeks.

“We already have a good team but certainly we need to make one or two additions but that’s not to be done immediately,” Tanner said. “We can wait in this moment and see.”

Tanner went on to explain that the timing of transfers is tricky this year with the MLS transfer window opening later than usual with the start of preseason and the start of the season delayed. The Union opened their 2020 season on February 29 in Texas.

“We are basically in our transfer window in between seasons in most leagues in the world and that doesn’t make it necessarily easier to get a player released,” he said.

The Union were able to acquire Findlay for less than his market value — reports put the transfer fee at around $300,000 — because his contract with Kilmarnock FC was set to expire in June.

The Union now have nine international players on the roster with just eight spots available so they will at the very least need to make a deal to acquire an international spot for their new 25-year-old center back.

Announcements are yet to be made as well over whether out of contract veterans Joe Bendik and Aurelien Collin will be returning. If Bendik and Collin return, the roster would have 27 of 30 spots filled, which would be one more than the roster had in 2020.

“All the players coming back are in good shape and I was really impressed with our young guys who are really progressing,” Tanner said.

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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