Haitian striker on trial with the Philadelphia Union

A tweet from Nathan Carr earlier today indicated that 17-year-old Haitian striker Ronaldo Damus will be on trial with the Philadelphia Union for the next two weeks.

Carr went on to point out that Damus “won Golden Boot at final round of Caribbean qualifying for U-20 World Cup,” where he scored six goals for the Haiti U20s - including a hat trick against St. Lucia. Carr also pointed out that Damus is cap-tied to the Haiti National Team, as Damus played a full 90 minutes in a World Cup Qualification match against Costa Rica.

The Union currently have 10 international players on their roster but because of roster flexibility made possible by weekly loans from the first team to Bethlehem Steel FC, they are currently using 14 of the 15 available slots between the two clubs. The loan of Eric Ayuk to Sweden opened up a first team roster spot and an international slot.

Adding Damus would mean that three international players on the first team would be unavailable for first team selection each week. A request for comment by the Philadelphia Union was not returned by the time of this publishing.

UPDATE: Damus spent time on trial with Bethlehem Steel FC, not the Philadelphia Union as the original report suggested.