CHESTER — The Philadelphia Union have been plagued the last two years by acquisitions that have failed to make an impact on the first team.
In approach and profile, they hope Samuel Adeniran breaks that trend, possibly as soon as the next match, which is Saturday when Nashville comes to town.
The Union’s new forward, acquired Thursday from St. Louis SC for the rest of 2024, is a low-cost gamble to bolster a striking corps that lost Julian Carranza earlier in the summer.
The Union paid little — $150,000 up front in 2024 general allocation money, which expires at year’s end — for a 10-game flyer on Adeniran, who is out of contract at the end of the year. The 25-year-old is on a low salary of $94,000 (pro-rated for the season) and is looking to rediscover the form that led to eight goals in 950 minutes last year.
“I think the opportunity is a big one, to come to an amazing organization, an organization with some history,” Adeniran said after training Friday. “For me, it was a no-brainer.”
Adeniran checks a lot of boxes in the hopes that such a fit will ameliorate the front office’s recent swings and misses.
He’s physical and fast, for a Union team that is generally neither. He’s experienced in MLS, like former depth striker Cory Burke was.
St. Louis finished atop the Western Conference standings last year as an expansion side based on pure counterpressing, more dogmatic in that regard than the Union. But at least Adeniran has a frame of reference for the defensive actions that manager Jim Curtin asks of his forwards.
Adeniran got news of the transaction Monday. He was at Subaru Park for Wednesday’s 5-1 win over New England, in which the Union (5-10-9, 24 points) ended a 10-game overall winless streak and a nine-game home winless streak.
“After seeing the game that we played on Wednesday, I can definitely see that Philadelphia have a great playing style and like to keep the ball and that they also like to press as well,” he said. “So I think it’s a mixture. I don’t think it’s exactly like how I played in St. Louis. But I definitely do think that there are some things that are similar.”
Curtin is likely to start Mikael Uhre and Tai Baribo, the latter of whom registered a hat trick Wednesday and was named MLS Player of the Matchday.
Speaking of transfer busts, Baribo was headed that way, from 13 minutes in the first 16 games to six goals in six starts, drawing effusive praise from Curtin.
Curtin’s mantra for Adeniran is to keep it simple, expect service and do with it what Curtin knows he can.
“He’s our fastest player, and it’s not close,” Curtin said. “So speed kills, and that changes the game. He not only has the ability to get in behind but has for a big guy really soft feet and can finish around the goal. We see a natural fit for us.”
The Union will take any boost, still planted 14th in the East.
Saturday’s game is the last before MLS breaks for the Leagues Cup, in which the Union will host Charlotte and Cruz Azul over the next couple of weeks. They hope to generate momentum for the nine-game stretch drive, which includes five on the road and seven opponents in playoff position.
Nashville (6-10-8, 26 points) isn’t one of them, though in 10th place it is near the top of the knot of eight teams clustered within five points.
The Union have won just twice in their last 16 games, both over last-place New England.
The game before that streak was a 2-1 win in Nashville, which precipitated the firing of Gary Smith, previously the only coach in Nashville’s MLS history. Saturday is the last game under interim boss Rumba Munthali before former Union assistant and Ursinus grad/Villanova and St. Joe’s coach BJ Callaghan takes the reins.
Callaghan was hired July 3, made official once the U.S., for which he was an assistant, was eliminated from Copa America.
“He’s the type of person that will never be outworked,” Curtin said of Callaghan, who is in town with the club. “You saw his leadership skills with the U.S. national team when he took control and did nothing but win. It was a group that needed a boost at that time, and he stepped in seamlessly and did a great job. I’m so incredibly proud of him. I think Nashville made a perfect decision: A top leader, a top coach, when we talk about tactical work ethic, speaking in front of the group, motivating athletes. Whatever box you need to check, BJ Callaghan checks all of them.”
There’s a Villanova connection with Adeniran, too. His brother recently graduated from Villanova law school and lives in Philadelphia.
Adeniran, a native of Houston from a close-knit Nigerian family, is familiar with Philly, which he hopes will aid him settling in.
“It’s definitely a plus, when your life is kind of changed that quick and you have to move from one state to another,” he said. “So to be able to have my family around me is a blessing.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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