- Cavan Sullivan came off the bench for the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday
- He is expected to move to Man City when he turns 18
Manchester City midfielder Cavan Sullivan, 14, became the youngest player in MLS history on Wednesday night when he came on as a substitute for the Philadelphia Union.
The teenager, who will join Man City in 2027 after turning 18, came on in the 85th minute as his team won 5-1, with his brother Quinn scoring a stunning long-range strike for Philly.
Cavan is 14 years and 293 days old, surpassing Freddy Adu as the youngest player ever to play in the competition.
The former DC United prodigy was 14 years and 306 days old when he made his debut in 2004.
In May, Sullivan signed the largest homegrown contract in MLS history with Union, a deal that included a clause stating he would eventually move to City.
Cavan Sullivan came off the bench to make his debut for the Philadelphia Union
Sullivan, playing for Philadelphia Union II, has scored for the reserves in his last two games
Before his first-team appearance on Wednesday, he had scored in each of his last two games for Union’s reserves.
Union coach Jim Curtin, who called Sullivan a “generational talent” in June, said this week that he had “earned the right” to be on the roster based on his recent performance at Union II.
“He’s got that chance now and the next step is to work hard to get your first minutes. Sometimes that’s one minute, sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 90 minutes,” Curtin said via the MLS website“But you have to earn it and I think Cavan understands and recognises that.”
He continued: ‘When we’re training, there are still two or three moments where he does something and you think, ‘Okay, I can’t teach that. That’s something that’s in a young boy, his talent is elite.”
Cavan’s brother, Quinn, is 20 and has played for the Union’s first team since 2021.
