Jack de Vries permanently transferred to Venezia FC in Italy

Jack de Vries won’t be returning from Italy, after all.

The Philadelphia Union and Venezia FC officially announced the transfer of the 20-year-old homegrown after he impressed with the Italian club’s U19 team on loan. He was the team’s top scorer in 2021-2022 with 14 goals in 22 appearances in the Primavera 2 and also made his first team debut with a 14-minute appearance in a Coppa Italia match in December.

“Jack is a young, talented player and his hard work and competitive mentality have allowed him to adapt well to Venezia’s style of play while on loan,” Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Ernst Tanner stated in a news release. “We remain committed to identifying and developing young talent through our academy, as evidenced by the club’s third Homegrown to be to be transferred to Europe in two years’ time. We are so proud of Jack and wish him the best of luck.”

De Vries will join fellow former Philadelphia Union Academy grad Anthony Fontana in Serie B this season. Fontana, who was out of contract with the Union, signed with 1898 Ascoli Calcio in February but made just one 7-minute cameo for the team.

Venezia FC was relegated to Serie B after one season in the Italian top flight.

A dollar figure for the de Vries transfer hasn’t been disclosed and the press release from the team didn’t reference a sell-on fee. De Vries, a Dutch-American, joined the Union Academy from Virginia in 2015. He was limited to just 13 minutes in four first team appearances for the Union and logged 309 minutes in six appearances over the 2019 and 2020 seasons with Philadelphia Union II.

He has also represented the United States as a youth international.