Philadelphia Union Academy Abroad: De Vries and Bohui Score, Fontana debuts

The Philadelphia Union Academy has a number of players playing not just for the first team and in and around American soccer. Here’s a look at some players who spent time in the academy that have gone to other countries to pursue their dream of professional soccer.

Brenden Aaronson, 22, Midfielder
Aaronson has been working his way back into form for a Leeds United team that has just one win in their last 12 games. He played 75 minutes in that 1-0 win on February 25.

Auston Trusty, 24, Defender
Trusty has enjoyed a very successful loan from Arsenal to Birmingham in the English Championship. He has 34 appearances and scored 4 goals and added an assist while logging 3,060 minutes.

Mark McKenzie, 24, Defender
McKenzie has had a much more consistent season in year two with KRC Genk in Belgium. He has 27 appearances and 2,460 minutes in all competitions this season after logging 2,125 minutes in 28 appearances all competitions in his first full season abroad in 2021-2022. The Delaware native has been quietly building his resume and only just turned 24 on February 25.

Paxten Aaronson, 19, Midfielder
Pax10 has been in the squad the last two Bundesliga games for Eintracht Frankfurt but is still awaiting his first team debut.

Anthony Fontana, 23, Midfielder
PEC Zwolle announced the signing of the Newark, Del. native this week and the former Union homegrown made his debut replacing former Union teammate Haris Medunjanin in the 87th minute. Medunjanin was listed at striker for the game and had a brace in the 3-2 win over Willem II in Eerste Divisie play. The head coach of the team is former Jim Curtin assistant Dick Schreuder.

Jack de Vries, 20, Winger
De Vries recently went on loan from Venezia to FC KTP in Finland and he’s already made an impression with his new club. The 20-year-old logged 292 minutes in four starts in the team’s preseason Liiga Cup and scored a goal from the spot in a 2-1 loss to HJK on Saturday.

Former Union homegrown Jack de Vries scored his first goal for KTP from the spot in a Liiga Cup match on Saturday.

The goal didn’t hold up as KTP were knocked out of the competition with a 2-1 loss to HJK. #PaidTheirDues pic.twitter.com/l8u9xFxpBQ

— Philadelphia Soccer Now (@phlsoccernow) March 7, 2023

Patrick Bohui, 19, Forward
The former Union Academy and Union II forward is on loan from Vejle Boldklub in Denmark to FC Vizela’s U23 team in Spain. He scored the first

⏹ Fim do jogo no Seixal. Os 𝗦𝘂𝗯-𝟮𝟯 do FC Vizela voltam aos triunfos na 𝓛𝓲𝓰𝓪 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓪çã𝓸 e em grande estilo, depois de uma reviravolta que começou na primeira parte e foi consumada após o intervalo.

⚽️ Patrick Bohui
⚽️ Gonçalo Cunha
⚽️ Rodrigo Ramos pic.twitter.com/5AcgTMB6vZ

— fcvizela (@FCVizelaOficial) February 28, 2023

goal in a 3-1 win over Benfica U23 on February 28 and logged 125 minutes in 4 appearances for the team in the Revelacao U23 Championship.

Adam Lenges, 20, Midfielder
The former Union Academy midfielder from Delaware was last in the team, logging 26 minutes, at the beginning of February for FC Koln II in the Regionalliga West in Germany. He has 10 appearances and has logged 417 minutes for the team this season.

Isaiah Young, 24, Winger
The former Union Academy attacker has a pair of goals and four assists in all competitions, logging 1,735 minutes this season for RW Essen in the German third tier.

Darius Lewis, 23, Midfielder
The former Union Academy midfielder has made one appearance for Botafogo U23 in Brazil so far this season, logging 8 minutes, according to Transfermarkt.

Chidi Iloka, 25, Goalkeeper
Iloka joined Jeunesse II in Luxembourg from TuS Makkabi in Germany last summer but does not appear to have featured in a match yet.