Philadelphia Union receive $50,000 in allocation for Ben Martino’s homegrown rights from Nashville SC

Another Philadelphia Union Academy grad will be in MLS in 2023 with the news that Nashville SC has signed goalkeeper Ben Martino after trading for his homegrown rights.

The Union are receiving $50,000 in general allocation money with the promise of up to $100,000 additional GAM based on performance and a percentage of any future transfer fee for the 20-year-old who played college soccer for two seasons at Virginia Tech.

The Pittsburgh native joined the Union Academy in 2019 from the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy and made three appearances in the USL Championship before heading to college.

Martino’s MLS move gives the Union Academy four goalkeepers on rosters for the upcoming season. Tomas Romero, whose homegrown rights were initially traded when he signed with LAFC, has moved to Toronto FC and CJ dos Santos is with Inter Miami.

The Martino deal marks the third time the Union has traded homegrown rights for a player who spent time in their academy. They traded rights to Romero to LAFC and to Kalil ElMedkhar to FC Dallas in 2021.