Philadelphia Union declines options for Wooten, Creavalle and Ngalina

Andrew Wooten, Warren Creavalle and Michee Ngalina had their options for 2021 declined and Joe Bendik and Aurelien Collin are out of contract.

Those are the headlines in the 2021 roster release by the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday morning. Brenden Aaronson’s previously announced transfer to RB Salzburg will also become effective in January.

On the flip side, options were exercised for Andre Blake, Anthony Fontana, Matt Real, Ilsinho, Raymon Gaddis, Olivier Mbaizo and Kai Wagner.

This leaves 25 players on the roster for the 2021 season with plenty of moves left to be made to fill roster spots and an expansion draft still to come.

The roster decisions are the first step in an offseason process for the Union team that will compete in the Concacaf Champions League for the first time.

Outbound and inbound transfers, trades and free agent signings are all still very real possibilities on the horizon so the roster is far from being set but here is where it stands as of today:

2021 Philadelphia Union Roster

Goalkeepers (2): Andre Blake, Matt Freese

Defenders (8): Jack Elliott, Raymon Gaddis, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel*, Olivier Mbaizo, Mark McKenzie, Matt Real, Kai Wagner

Midfielders (12): Paxten Aaronson*, Alejandro Bedoya, Brandan Craig*, Jack de Vries, Ilsinho, Anthony Fontana, Jose Martinez, Jack McGlynn*, Jamiro Monteiro, Matej Oravec, Quinn Sullivan*, Cole Turner

Forwards (3): Cory Burke, Kacper Przybylko, Sergio Santos

* - joins First Team effective Jan. 1, 2021