Philly Leader

Less than a week before the Major League Soccer regular season begins, Philadelphia Union has strengthened its lineup with a new addition to the 2025 roster. The club announced on Tuesday morning that they have signed 22-year-old Uruguayan striker Bruno Damiani to a four-year contract for a record-breaking transfer fee.

Sporting Director Ernst Tanner revealed that Damiani is his third international signing since the start of 2025 and has been on his radar for over a year. Damiani hails from Montevideo and joins Philadelphia Union from the Uruguayan Primera División, where he played for Nacional and was loaned to Boston River. In 2023, he made 22 appearances for Nacional, scoring two goals and providing three assists. The following year, while on loan at Boston River, he scored 12 goals and assisted five times in 38 matches.

“Bruno is exactly what we were looking for after we sold Julian [Carranza],” said Tanner. He emphasized that acquiring players in summer can be challenging, which led them to focus on winter transfers for better preparation time. Tanner praised Damiani's physicality and ability to handle tough defenders in the Uruguayan League.

Discussing how Damiani fits into the team under Head Coach Bradley Carnell, Tanner described him as unique among their current attackers. “We are, at this moment, not having a striker like him,” Tanner stated.

Tanner also mentioned the need to refresh the roster due to its life cycle of two to three years and highlighted their strategy of bringing in fresh talent like Argentinian centerback Ian Glavinovich and Serbian midfielder Jovan Lukic.

“We have already seen with both of the other two boys that they are already well integrated,” Tanner added, noting their thorough background checks during scouting.

Philadelphia Union will face FC Cincinnati at Subaru Park on March 1st for their home opener.