Could Cavan Sullivan be our Lamine Yamal in WC 2026?

He's not that small. My friend, who was a college Lax player and later played with the US indoor lax team, went to the DC game with me. My seats are right behind the goal where the Union's subs warmup, 6 rows from the field. When O told him the blond haired player was 15, he said to me: "his legs don't look like a 15 year olds, they're huge." Paxten looked like a 16 year old when he started with the Union. Cavan is much further along physically. Yes, he's short, but he's built.

 

Fabrizio Romano on X: " Understand Manchester City are planning for talent Cavan Sullivan to begin training with #MCFC in July, work in progress with Philadelphia Union. Sulliven, developing very well and seen as one of best young players worldwide. He will officially join Man City in 2027. https://t.co/ToOalpt9JL" / X

 

Are we babying him due to previous failures?

 

What do you mean by babying him?

 

Yeah not sure what you mean but MC might have input to not overplay him so that he stays healthy later when he has a reasonable chance to perform for them instead of years of injuries ala Pulisic and Reyna. Not every club or national team has to be saved by a 16-17 year old to the player's detriment later on. Funny how this seemed a common realization after Michael Owen but now needs to be relearned. I wonder if the player on the thread - Yamine Lamal will have injuries at some point? Didn't the Barca wunderkids also have injury problems likely related to overuse when quite young?

 

No. He's only 15 and making MLS first team appearances.

0 goals and 0 assists

If he starts to show he's better than the other options on Philly's first team, then he'll get more and more minutes.

Right now Philly is 2nd in the East, only two points back of Columbus. The guys playing are doing well.

I think Philly is doing a good job with his progression.

 

I don't totally disagree with your post... but posting that stat line is misleading. The kid has played less than 60 minutes across all his sub appearances at the MLS level. His longest sub appearance was his last.... racking up a whole 28 minutes. The rest of his sub appearances have been late cameos. At least the coach has shown that he is willing to play him in close games this season. I am inclined to believe that the Union is handling him a bit but my guess is that he will get more minutes as the schedule starts to take it's toll on the starters. The Union starters are getting a ton of minutes right now.

You were quick to point out how he needs to out-produce his competitors but we are not talking starters here. Whether it be at AM or RM/LM/CM... his non-starting alternatives are Rafanello, Bedoya and two youngsters in Olney Jr. and Vazquez. The latter two have yet to appear this season and the former two have a stat line of... yes, 0/0 G/A. Again... in limited minutes.

 

Right, but he's 15.................and doesn't even turn 16 until September.

Not a lot of 15 year olds get into games in leagues that are noted for development of young players.

No 15 year olds played in Ligue 1 this season. [The youngest was 16 years 4 months]
No 15 year olds played in the Eredivisie this season. [The youngest was 16 years 11 months.]
No 15 year olds played in the Belgian League this season [The youngest was 16 years 8 months.]
No 15 year olds played in Portugal this season. [The youngest was 17 years 3 month.]

I can keep going.

[These are league games. I didn't do the search for cup competitions.]

Cavan's first appearance this year was 15 years old 5 months. More than a full year younger than the youngest player to appear in the Eredivisie, Belgian Jupiler League, etc.

Just getting into some games and getting minutes this year at the MLS level (and not looking overwhelmed) is a nice target for Cavan. He's doing fine. Lots of minutes in MLSNP and spot minutes in MLS.

I'm going to keep my eye on the lineup for the USOC match on Wednesday against Indy XI.
I won't be shocked to see him start that game.

 

Right.... I basically agree with your premise although I am hopeful he will get more consistent senior minutes down the stretch this season. Just wanted to point out that the 0/0 G/A data point muddied the waters... I.e. you argue that he is young and is on a very good path but insinuate that if he were producing more for the senior team he might be getting more minutes. Just think your initial post would have been stronger w/o that stat/info.

 

I expect limited minutes. But all of the congratulating him for playing minutes in a non-blowout .... it's like he's going to get his spirit crushed if he loses a game.

 

I think the limited minutes are probably more tied to physical size than anything mental. Both in that there's some injury risk and his effectiveness is going to be limited.

 

One detail from the article I linked before is that they are starting to play him in 60 minute or so stints for Union II, rather than 90s, even though he is basically a dominant player at that level. So there does appear to be concern about overuse and minutes management.

 

Also from the article:

 

First start and 120 minutes tonight. For all the talk of managing minutes.

Though my hope/expectation generally is he’ll start to surge towards the end of the season.

 

Yup, that's what my friend said....... I've seen the article. I'm a Philly season ticket holder.......

No, the .limited MLS NP minutes are so he CAN play in MLS games. If he plays more than 60, he can't be on the bench and play in that week's MLS game (if the NP game takes place prior to that week's MLS game). It's in the CBA. The same applies if the NP game is the following day, or two days. If he plays more than 15-20 minutes in an MLS game he cannot go more than 60 in the NP game.

 

Sounds like when he was playing kids his own age he would run through them Cade Cowell style. Good that's been coached out of him, 99.9% of players will find a level where that doesn't work anymore.

 

I was referring to limited MLS minutes, not Next Pro, but I didn't know the rule, so thanks.

 

That makes sense but I didn't know it was an actual rule in the CBA... good to know.

 

I'm also glad that came up and got explained. It does make sense as I could see in a short squad some kid playing back to back games and having massive minutes collectively.

 

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Cavan Sullivan starting tonight in the US Open Cup

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He and Quinn played a big part in Philly's second goal

 

Mostly Quinn but yeah

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Ironically his brother being with the USMNT for roughly 6 weeks will probably open up some playing time for Cavan.