The Union’s uninspiring offseason got no more uplifting on Saturday.
The club is trading midfielder Jack McGlynn to Houston in a deal that will net them in the neighborhood of $1.5-$2 million, according to sources. The Union retain a sizeable sell-on fee, though their compensation on the front end is limited by how much of McGlynn’s rights they own, with the native of Queens having been signed from the catchment area of the two New York clubs.
McGlynn was a bright spot in a dour 2024 for the Union, accounting for four goals and seven assists while playing 30 games (25 starts). He played nearly every available game around his absence to represent the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics. McGlynn has three career caps with the U.S. national team, scoring his first goal in January.
McGlynn made 99 regular-season appearances with the Union (56 starts), scoring seven goals and 13 assists. He added two assists in nine playoff games. He signed a pre-contract with the Union in August 2020, making him the club’s 14th Homegrown signing.
But McGlynn was coming up on the last year of his contract, with further options, though the Union would likely have had to greatly increase his salary on what will be his third pro contract. The 21-year-old can be a defensive liability, and his speed and lack of defensive attributes doesn’t fit the counterattacking style of new coach Bradley Carnell.
It’s more tailored to what Ben Olsen and Houston aim to do: Houston led MLS last year with 59.3 percent possession and was third in total touches. The Dynamo finished fifth in the West last year and moved on from 34-year-old Mexican international Hector Herrera. McGlynn will fill that role and be required to do less defensively given Houston’s control of games.
The Union are among the first to utilize the new option for in-league trades using cash rather than allocation money, giving more latitude for acquisition as though it’s a foreign transfer. McGlynn had drawn interest from European clubs, but no substantive offers materialized.
None of that makes the Union any better in the immediate future, however. McGlynn joins the laundry list of exits since the beginning of the 2024 season: Julian Carranza, Jose Martinez, Damion Lowe, Jack Elliott and Leon Flach. They’ve been replaced by Danley Jean Jacques, Ian Glavinovich and a parade of Homegrowns.
Source: Berkshire mont