Philadelphia Union and United States wonderkid Cavan Sullivan didn’t take a break this summer, even as the first team enjoyed a much-needed few weeks off for the World Cup

The first half of the season was a disaster. The Union went from first in 2025 to 30th in 2026, and head coach Bradley Carnell was fired as the team went their separate ways for the summer.

Having won a starting spot in the first team, Sullivan told the Union he wanted to keep playing and asked to keep training with the second team.

The kid who has a transfer pre-agreed to Manchester City when he turns 18 in two years, the kid who has been followed with a spotlight since he was 13 at academy and youth national team games, asked to go back to the second team instead of training alone or taking time off.

“During the World Cup, he was an animal in the way he trained,” Union sporting director Jon Scheer told The Athletic.

The Union II had a friendly lined up against Ivory Coast, who were based in the area for the World Cup. Sullivan asked to play in that, too, and excelled. He even posted a compilation of his highlights on social media. He is still a kid, after all.

Highlights of Cavan Sullivan vs The Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 First Team
Cavan held his own against a very physical team that just beat France👀

🎥 cavan.sull pic.twitter.com/JIEo9Re4yN

— USMNTContent (@USMNTContent) June 10, 2026

Since the team returned to training, with second-team head coach Ryan Richter elevated to interim boss of the first team, the Union has taken off. They won all three of their MLS games with Sullivan playing a central role. He started seven games in a row across all competitions before being rotated on Thursday in a dead rubber in the Leagues Cup. That choice was to keep him fresh for the more important league game on the weekend.

In short, Sullivan has leveled up from a promising young talent to a key contributor in all facets of the game. Not just his dazzling skill and intentionality on the ball, but off of it, too, in a pressing, high-energy team.

“That’s what I’m most proud of with Cavan: He’s happy when we win and when we lose, no matter how he plays, he’s not happy,” Scheer said. “That’s a really good sign for years to come.”

It does not take long watching Sullivan play to get swept up in the excitement.

Game time is coming more regularly now for the 16-year-old, having racked up almost 50 percent of his senior career minutes since the start of May.

It is giving Sullivan more opportunities to impress, and Richter has already seen enough to suggest that he trusts Sullivan to make a difference in the final third.

Sullivan’s influence on the Union is growing by the week. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Every time the play moves towards Sullivan, it feels as if something could happen. He is refreshingly direct, a zippy winger who has no fear when it comes to taking on defenders, able to dip left and right with short steps and devastating bursts of speed.

“He’s played with a lot of intent and confidence, he’s earned everything he’s got so far and is hungry for more,” Scheer said, reflecting on his recent success with the first team.

Here he is in a recent comeback win over Atlanta United, for example, picking up the pass from full-back Kai Wagner and instantly squaring up to his man. His first touch is positive, and he doesn’t hesitate before dropping a shoulder and darting to the byline, happy to rely on his pace to get round the defender. His path is blocked, but he sells Matthew Edwards the dummy and chops inside to fire a pass to Jovan Lukić on the edge of the box.

Barely five minutes later, he peels off into space on the opposite flank, shimmying both ways before cutting in and driving a low shot towards the far corner.

Sullivan is yet to score from outside the box in senior football, but the early signs are that he can pack a punch from distance, striking the ball consistently well. He is not shy about taking those shots on either, having unleashed 11 attempts from distance already this season, with 10 coming after he has ducked onto his stronger left foot, including the one below.

Sullivan’s natural enthusiasm catches the eye, and sees him drift all over the pitch to find fresh opponents to take on.

As we can see from the visual below, he is equally happy to run at defenders from either flank, while his rate of 5.1 take-ons per 90 minutes ranks seventh among MLS players this term.

Sullivan’s close control in tight spots also makes him tricky to tackle, capable of receiving passes under pressure and wriggling his way away from outstretched legs.

In another example from that Atlanta game, he carries the ball straight into a crowd of players, slinking away from three separate challenges before eventually being dispossessed. Although Sullivan can’t carry the ball towards the byline himself, the fact that he engages four opponents still leads to a half-chance for his team.

Given his positivity and youthful enthusiasm, Sullivan is understandably prone to mistakes.

The 16-year-old is desperate to leave an impression, and that bears out in the statistics: Around one in four of Sullivan’s passes are considered ‘progressive’ — a pass that moves the ball at least 25 percent closer to the opposition goal — while almost nine per cent of his carries include a take-on, the fourth-highest rate in the division.

So much of what he does is with the intention of attacking the opposition, which can lead to overplaying and forcing the issue at times.

Here he is holding onto the ball a little too long down the flank earlier in the first half, ignoring the overlapping run and giving up possession as he attempts one stepover too many…

…while he feels the ire of his teammate and older brother Quinn Sullivan, 22, at the back post after opting to go alone against Seattle, taking himself too wide and seeing his effort easily saved.

Cavan Sullivan’s decision-making can be worked on, but it is always worth giving talented players like him the freedom to make an impact, particularly at such a young age.

Given his natural dribbling ability and powerful strike on goal, meaningful attacking contributions should soon begin to surge.

“I’m really happy with what Ryan (Richter) and the staff have done,” Scheer said. “They’ve allowed Cavan to be different and special in moments of the game while still having standards and expectations of him within the team. Whether it’s against the ball, whether it’s some structural positioning with the ball. But we want Cavan to be Cavan.

“As well as he’s playing for such a young player, he’s got more in him. And he knows that. He wants to get better.

“Cavan just wants to be the best he can be — that’s how he approaches every training session and game, no matter who he’s with. That’s going to take him a long way.”

Carlos Espi is Real Madrid’s most intriguing summer signing.

There was little reporting around Espi’s move from Levante until it was announced on July 30, when Madrid paid the 21-year-old striker’s €25million ($29m; £21m) release clause.

Espi is used to flying under the radar — even though he stands at 6ft 4in (194cm).

Last season was his first in La Liga, and he only played five top-flight games before January.

Things changed when Levante appointed Portuguese coach Luis Castro in December. Espi went on to score 11 goals for the Valencia-based side and became one of the heroes of their unexpected survival.

Three months later, English, German and Italian clubs were lining up to sign him. Then Real Madrid entered the picture, with academy graduate striker Gonzalo Garcia on his way out. At that point, sources close to Espi say his decision became easy.

But what makes Espi different, and why was his move to the Bernabeu kept under wraps?

Espi was born into a working-class family with no connection to football, 40 kilometres from Valencia, in the neighbouring municipality of Tavernes de Valldigna. He started playing for his local club before moving to Alzira, another team from the province.

It was not until he went through a physical growth spurt that he attracted Levante’s attention, joining them in 2022.

“What stood out was his physique — his height and his frame,” says Levante academy director Joaqui Navarro, who brought Espi to the club, in an interview with The Athletic. “At 16, to be over 1.9 metres tall for that position was very important.

“Although he was coordinated, there were still plenty of areas of his game that needed work, particularly his play with his back to goal.”

Carlos Espi scored 13 goals for Levante last season (Cristina Quicler/AFP via Getty Images)

A 19-year-old Espi played a key role in Levante’s promotion to La Liga in 2025, scoring six goals and providing two assists in 36 second-division appearances.

Last season was more complicated. Levante signed another highly rated striker, Karl Etta Eyong, who had been on Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s radars. The former Villarreal forward was given a starting role, with Espi benched and then suffering a muscle injury that kept him out for four games across November and December.

“We were in a very bad situation, we had 10 points by the winter break,” Levante club president Pablo Sanchez tells The Athletic. “We could have been relegated, but we had a clear idea: if we went down, we would go down sticking to our principles.

“We have a very good academy. Our foundation and our business model is to work through the academy. That is why we hired Castro. Espi’s emergence came from Castro’s decision to trust him.

“He scores goals, but above all, important goals. It also happened in the promotion season. It is true that he often scored in the final minutes of games and people said that was what he was for, but in the first division he showed he was a 90-minute player.”

Espi scored goals against several direct relegation rivals, including Alaves, Girona, Real Oviedo and Real Mallorca, and displaced Etta Eyong as the starting No 9.

He has learned to use his size to devastating effect from set pieces, one of his main routes to goal.

Espi’s performances even led to him being named in Luis de la Fuente’s preliminary Spain squad for the World Cup, according to sources — who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — but he did not make the final cut. De la Fuente opted for a more established reserve striker in Borja Iglesias, the 33-year-old Celta Vigo forward.

Madrid came in for him after interest from other clubs, particularly in the Premier League, with Brighton and Hove Albion having seriously considered signing him. Those close to Espi say his mind was made up as soon as the record 15-time European champions showed interest.

A call from Jose Mourinho was also significant. The returning Portuguese manager explained what Espi’s role would be as Madrid targeted a traditional ‘No 9’. Things began to fall into place as Garcia’s €40million move to Fulham was finalised, eventually being announced four days after Espi’s arrival.

A call from Jose Mourinho proved crucial in Carlos Espi’s transfer (Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)

Madrid asked everyone involved to move with extreme discretion. That was one of the reasons the transfer remained a secret until so late.

“Horrible, it has been horrible,” Espi’s father, Juanjo, told radio station Cope after the announcement. “Keeping it secret, not being able to talk about it — not even to my mother or to my brother, nobody.”

“I was already expecting Madrid to come for him the previous year because I could see the potential Espi had,” says Levante president Sanchez. “It was almost a wish of mine. He is a Spanish player and Madrid are looking particularly hard at that profile as they try to make the squad more Spanish.”

Espi became the most expensive academy sale in Levante’s history. The only player they have sold for more is Jefferson Lerma, who joined Bournemouth in a €30million deal in 2018.

Real Madrid have experienced success signing players from Levante. Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas joined from the Valencia club in 2014 after an outstanding season in La Liga and an impressive World Cup in Brazil, and went on to help them win three Champions Leagues in a row from 2016 to 2018.

Centre-back Joan Martinez, one of Madrid’s most promising academy players at 18 years old, also joined from Levante’s youth system in 2023.

Espi joins a Madrid squad packed with stars, including Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and headline summer signings such as Yan Diomande, who joined in a deal worth up to €140million.

Those close to Espi believe he will adapt easily and say he understands what his role will be. Espi can be reserved at first, but is described by those close to him as being affectionate, sociable and outgoing when he feels comfortable. That should help him settle into a dressing room full of strong personalities.

With Mbappe as the focal point and Endrick expected to stay at least until January, Espi knows he will have to earn his minutes and establish himself as a reliable alternative. He may take encouragement from the example of Joselu, another direct backup striker who played a crucial role in their La Liga-Champions League double two years ago.

Joselu became a hero for Real Madrid during his 2023-24 loan spell from Espanyol (David Ramos/Getty Images)

So far, things are going well.

Barely a week after his transfer was completed, Espi scored his first goal, producing a classic poacher’s finish in Madrid’s 2-1 friendly victory against Ferencvaros in Budapest. They face German side Schalke in another pre-season game tonight (Sunday).

“Espi is special because of his ability to score from very few chances,” says Navarro.

“The coach, Castro, was already saying it last year: he has no ceiling,” adds Sanchez, who has no doubts about Espi making the step up.

“That kid will be a star. But he will also be a good person.”

Portland Thorns forward Caiya Hanks scored the game-winning goal against the Orlando Pride on Saturday night in her first appearance since she suffered an ACL injury in June 2025.

The 21-year-old entered the match in the 88th minute with the score tied 1-1 at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. After receiving a pass from fullback M.A. Vignola in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Hanks dribbled swiftly toward the center of the Thorns’ attacking third, took three touches to prepare a right-footed shot, and curled it past diving goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to thunderous cheers.

Hanks’ teammates surrounded her on the pitch in an emotional celebration as the camera cut to her mother and grandmother’s joyful faces in the stands.

“I wanted to cry, but I’m like, ‘No, not now. There’s still time left and the game’s not over,’” Hanks said in a postgame news conference. “But it honestly just means so much to me.”

In a clash that often saw the Thorns on the back foot against the 2024 NWSL champions, the home side scored first in the 58th minute when midfielder and Venezuela international Deyna Castellanos fired off a soaring shot that arced over the Pride’s defense.

Orlando equalized five minutes later off a deflection from Pride forward Jacquie Ovalle. The Mexican international rushed onto a cross that forced Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold off her line to make a save, but the ball bounced off Ovalle and over the end line to level the score.

Caiya Hanks scores her first goal since her return from an ACL injury, and it’s a CRUCIAL one for Portland! ☄️ pic.twitter.com/aS97GJL4Jk

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 16, 2026

The Thorns’ victory provided some cushion in the NWSL standings. With 34 points, they are fourth in the table behind Gotham FC (43 points), the Utah Royals (36) and the Washington Spirit (36).

That’s thanks to Hanks’ first goal since May 16, 2025, less than a month before she suffered her season-ending ACL injury. The Thorns signed the 2024 MAC Hermann Trophy finalist to a four-year contract in March of that year, and the Wake Forest alumna needed little time to transition to the NWSL and demonstrate what she could offer the three-time league champions. She started seven of the 11 matches she played in, scoring two goals and contributing an assist before her injury.

“It was a very hard 14 months,” Hanks said of her recovery. “… There were times that I didn’t even want to show up, and there were times where the only thing that got me through the day was being around everybody and being able to be in the locker room with everyone and laugh and smile.

“It’s been hard to not have this sport that I’ve loved for so long and not be able to share my abilities and my crafts with my family and just share the field with these girls. But I think the support system that I had was just incredible.”

Sitting beside her in the news conference, Castellanos added with a smile, “She wasn’t crying, but we were.”

Hanks’ return is all the more welcome in the wake of the Thorns’ announcement Tuesday that U.S. women’s national team midfielder Olivia Moultrie will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Portland also welcomed forward Morgan Weaver back to the pitch July 24 after she suffered an injury to her right knee that required three surgeries and a meniscus and cartilage transplant. Weaver, who sat out the 2025 season, was on the pitch when Hanks scored Saturday night.

“We had a lot of conversations, and at the end of the day, we stick together,” Castellanos said. “We know the potential that we have as a team, and obviously it’s super sad to lose Olivia, but we gain back Caiya and Morgan, and Julie (Dufour) is on her way back as well, and I think it’s just supporting each other all the way and sticking together.”

The Thorns will remain at home for their next match next Saturday against the Denver Summit before traveling to Harrison, N.J., to meet league-leading Gotham FC on Aug. 28.