Philadelphia Union sign SuperDraft pick Holden Trent to one-year deal

MLS SuperDraft pick Holden Trent will be the third goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union in 2023 after signing a one-year deal with club options for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The 23-year-old from North Carolina was drafted with the 28th pick in the draft. The High Point University star was the first player drafted by the Union since 2018 and becomes the first player drafted to sign a first team deal with the team since Jack Elliott, Marcus Epps and Aaron Jones all signed first team deals after being chosen in the 2017 SuperDraft.

“Holden’s collegiate performances showed he is a talented goalkeeper, and we have been impressed with his ability to learn how we expect our goalkeepers to play in order to support our aggressive style,” Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner stated in a news release. “We believe his athleticism and mentality will give us one of the top goalkeeper units in MLS once again this season.”

Trent fills a need for a third goalkeeper on the roster after the departure of Matt Freese to NYCFC. The homegrown keeper was traded to the Union’s conference rivals for up to $750,00 in general allocation money.

“He’s got a really high ceiling and obviously in Matt Freese’s absence with him moving on to New York City we needed to add a piece there and he’s earned the right to be on the team,” head coach Jim Curtin said in his weekly press conference on Thursday. “You know, with the amount of good talent that’s coming to this league, it’s really, really hard to take a step from a second team to a first team, from a university to a first team, especially with all of the foreign talent that’s coming into the league, it is really difficult. So an incredible accomplishment for him.”

Trent, 23, received many accolades during his time at High Point, including being named to the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Second Team, being honored as the Big South Goalkeeper of the Year, earning a spot on the Big South All-Conference First Team, and being named to the Big South All-Tournament Team.

While with the team in preseason training, Trent played 30 minutes in both the 3-2 win against Austin FC and the 2-2 draw against St. Louis City SC.