Manchester City are hoping to take the next steps in their long-term capture of Major League Soccer teen prodigy Cavan Sullivan this summer.
Sullivan hit the headlines last year when he made his MLS debut for Philadelphia Union at the age of just 14 years and 293 days. It made him the youngest player, not only in football but across all major U.S. sports, to make a professional appearance.
The midfielder broke the MLS record, held by Freddy Adu since 2004, by 13 days.
He had already signed the largest ‘homegrown contract’ in MLS history at Philadelphia, with the player himself confirming it contains a clause built specifically to pave a path to Manchester City.
“The collaboration between the Union and the City Group was… I think that did it for me,” Sullivan told ESPN in May 2024, two months before his historic debut.
“I always watch Man City. They’re like every kid’s dream team. For [Philadelphia and Man City] to come together and agree on something… I sat with my family and my agents and we decided that it was the best plan.”
Fabrizio Romano has now reported that Sullivan, who has featured three times as substitute in the early weeks of the new 2025 MLS season, is expected to begin training with Manchester City in July. Sorting out that arrangement is described as a “work in progress” with Philadelphia.
The eventual outcome is that Sullivan will join City from 2027, turning 18 in September that year.
Sullivan is now 15 and comes from a ‘soccer family’. His father, Brendan, was a professional player from 1996 until 2001 a step below MLS, while older brother Quinn, 21, recently surpassed 100 MLS appearances with Philadelphia. Two other brothers, a cousin, a grandfather and an uncle have all had past and present involvement with the sport at collegiate level or higher.
