Cavan Sullivan, as most readers are well aware, is already a pretty big deal, and has been for some years now.
Tagged as one of the best prospects on the planet before he’d even turned 14, the Philadelphia Union’s budding star is reportedly on the largest homegrown contract in MLS history and recently passed Freddy Adu as the most productive 16-year-old the league has ever seen. He has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, and nearly as many on TikTok.
Lately, he’s become a much-ballyhooed candidate for the US men’s national team roster head coach Mauricio Pochettino will announce later this month. And he’ll command the spotlight again when the Union visit San Diego FC for Matchday 26’s Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire clash at Snapdragon Stadium (9 pm ET | Apple TV).
“From the time he was eight years old, he's so mature and he's so driven and he's so fearless,” said Philly interim head coach Ryan Richter, who’s coached Sullivan dating back to his earliest days in the Union academy. “He's not afraid of any moment. Even when he came into the first team two years ago, he's 14 years old, and he's not afraid to give it to a guy in training who's a 10-year pro.
“He has a big personality, and I think that's the most impressive thing to me, in everything that's talked about with him: This kid's mentality is outrageous.”
Flying the DOOP
Inside the Philly locker room, though, he’s just Cavan, younger sibling of Quinn Sullivan (who’s already a Union veteran at age 22) and the unofficial little brother of pretty much everyone else on the squad as well.
Just listen to another academy product, right back Frankie Westfield, after Sullivan flashed a chalky LeBron James-themed goal celebration that went viral during last weekend’s 2-0 win over CF Montréal, followed by a public postgame request for the NBA legend to attend a Union match and follow him back on Instagram.
“I had no idea he was going to do that. But he likes to aura farm, if you guys know what that means,” Westfield told reporters with a wry smile postgame. “It was pretty cool, I guess … it was alright.”
Amid huge levels of hype, Cavan’s colleagues make sure to keep him grounded. In the process, they’ve provided him the runway to take flight.
With four goals and 10 assists (and counting) in league play and another 3g/4a across Concacaf Champions Cup and Leagues Cup action, the younger Sullivan has turned 2026 into his breakout season, giving everyone reason to believe he’ll meet or even eclipse those great expectations.
“He's matured a lot,” longtime Union captain Alejandro Bedoya told MLSsoccer.com last week. “It's one thing to come in and think you're the hotshot because you're playing two ages up, three ages up with older kids.
“There’s maybe a little gray area between arrogance, cockiness and confidence, and I think he was able to scale that back into just more of the confidence part. It's all good to have personality and ego, and you need that. The best players in the world have that. But this year, I think he was able to channel the energy in a way where he's seen the benefits.”
Passing every test
Anyone who thinks the teenage phenom faces a tall task winning over Pochettino – who this week made a point of warning rising US young’uns just like him of the dangers of arrogance and excess hype – should keep in mind that the younger Sullivan spent most of the past two years proving himself to an arguably even tougher crowd: his teammates and coaches.
“There's just a psychological effect when the young guys come up, where you want them to earn the respect,” explained Bedoya. “So guys are going to get stuck into tackles harder. On a 50/50 ball, they're going to freaking put their whole shoulder into you.
“I remember some of the first conversations that I had with him were, ‘Hey man, a lot of this dribbling maybe works with the younger kids, but just be careful, because now you're playing with grown men.’”
That memorable scrap near the end of Philly’s wild 2-2 draw with Inter Miami last month, in which Cavan raced to the defense of Quinn after the latter tussled with Herons defender Ian Fray, nearly sparking a full-on brawl? For thousands watching around the world, it was box-office entertainment, and an encouraging sign of the wunderkind’s bravery.
Cavan nevertheless had to explain himself to his Union elders afterwards.
“At first, I was a little bit disappointed because, of course, you're supposed to stand up for yourself,” longtime goalkeeper Andre Blake explained to MLSsoccer.com last week. “I also don't believe in taking unnecessary red cards. So I went up to him and he said, ‘Listen, I didn't do anything.’ I'm like, well, if you didn't do anything, then we're good.”
The red card Cavan received in the kerfuffle was later rescinded.
“Credit to Cavan, because he did go in there and he did stand up for his teammates, stand up for his brother, but he didn't cross the line,” noted Blake, “which for me shows a level of maturity.”
Practice makes progress
During his tutelage with the first team, Bedoya and other Union vets sought to hone the skillful winger’s instincts without stifling his creativity. Beat one defender, perhaps a second, advised the USMNT World Cup veteran. But if you’re not decisive with your next action, the third one to arrive will in all likelihood drop the hammer.
Sullivan has found that balance. With a trio of assists in Wednesday's 5-0 romp over FC Cincinnati, Cavan has now posted goal contributions in six consecutive matches, powering Philly’s steady climb up the Eastern Conference standings after a woeful start to the campaign left them in last place before the May departure of head coach Bradley Carnell.
“I’ve had a couple of private conversations where I said, listen, at his age, he has to have this confidence, because if he comes in, he's playing with grown men, and if he doesn't show this level of confidence, he would not survive,” recalled Blake. “So I understood from the get-go that's what made him who he is, and he needed that to survive. And here he is now, thriving.
“You build trust by what you do week in, week out in training and in games, and the more you're capable of doing that over and over again, that's how you earn the trust of your teammates, supporters, coaches.”
The teenager leads Philly in the assists category, and only Milan Iloski has played more key passes this season. Meanwhile, he’s met or exceeded the defensive demands inherent to the Union’s intense high-pressing game model.
Did we mention that he graduated from high school at YSC Academy, the Union’s on-site academic component, at the end of May?
“Even when he was playing up two years,” said Richter, “the athleticism, the speed, the quickness, the balance – he didn't have to make up ground in that, even when he was tiny.
“He's really refined his technical side, getting much better in front of goal, much better in his final pass, first touch cleaner; he's put in a lot of work with that. He's put in a lot of work in the gym; he's put a lot of additional work on the field.”
The club’s staff marveled at the youngster’s approach to the FIFA World Cup pause, a seven-week break which included a hefty chunk of time off for first-team players. Cavan requested to hop in with Philly’s MLS NEXT Pro side instead, including a standout display in a scrimmage against the Côte d’Ivoire national team, who held their World Cup camp at the Union’s facilities in Chester, Pennsylvania.
“During the break he trained like an animal,” said Richter. “He asked to play in Union 2 games – when they played a friendly against Ivory Coast, he asked to play in this game, and he used that break to get better, and started off the second preseason flying. Played four great games that we had as friendlies, and carried that momentum into the second half of the year.”
Philly's fresh prince
Sullivan was something of a curiosity when he signed his homegrown deal in 2024, and broke Adu’s record as the youngest player among top North American professional sports leagues and the major European competitions when he made his MLS debut that July. His potential was palpable; he’d already been dominating youth levels in which he was playing multiple age groups up from his own.
Yet he often resembled a boy among men when he took the pitch with Philly’s first team, mostly because that’s exactly what he was. Now that he’s leveled up and found his rhythm, those around him say the sky is the limit.
And that growth might just save Philly’s season.
“For him it starts in training. Every single day in training he’s going out there with the same mentality as he comes in a game,” said Westfield. “As a fullback I’m going against him in training as well, and it’s so hard, when he’s very confident, to get the ball off of him and defend him.
“I know he’s going to keep pushing. This is where he wants to be.”
