Jack Elliott, Olivier Mbaizo acquire green cards

Jack Elliott and Olivier Mbaizo have both acquired green cards, giving the Philadelphia Union eight out of their eight allotted international spots on the first team roster.

A team spokesperson confirmed Friday that both players will no longer count as internationals on the roster.

The Union have eight international roster spots at present and eight international players, not including Cory Burke who is on loan through June in Austria.

The players who currently count as internationals include Jakob Glesnes, Jose “El Brujo” Martinez, Jamiro Monteiro, Michee Ngalina, Matej Oravec, Kacper Przybylko, Sergio Santos and Kai Wagner.

Three of the seven allotted international spots are occupied on the Union II roster at the USL Championship level — Saed Diaz, Yomi Scintu and Steve Kingue — which gives the team additional flexibility with international spots via loans.

The Union had nine first team and 12 USL spots after acquiring additional spots in trades last season. There were 11 players on first team contracts who required first team international spots at various points throughout the year (Michee Ngalina was loaned down after signing a first team deal, Carlos Miguel Coronel was loaned down and eventually recalled by his team in Europe and Cory Burke filled a spot before he lost his visa and was no longer on the active roster).