Credit: Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union have announced 2 new signings this week, in an effort to shore up its forward and backline. Both signings were announced as discovery signings and will take up the Union’s final 2 international slots.
The first is Dutch defender Giliano Wijnaldum, brother of Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum. Giliano joins Philadelphia after playing with 3 different top flight clubs across The Netherlands. Wijlandum started his career at AZ Alkmaar, under the tutelage of Union Sporting director Earnie Stewart. He started his first game at the age of 18 in the 2010-11 season, debuting against ADO Den Haag. By the age of 24, Wijnaldum has amassed 65 appearances in the Dutch first division, including playing a part in helping AZ to win the 2012-13 Dutch Cup. He has since moved to FC Groningen and Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch league, capping 45 times. Last year he played for German 2. Bundesliga side VfL Bochum.
Giliano is a left back by trade, and will help supplement the Union backline, which teetered in the last half of the season. It makes sense that the Union would want to bring in a new defender to bring depth and challenge the left back spot, however Fabinho was terrific last year, and will hopefully feature again this year.We may even see Wijnaldum play in the center of defense, or more likely as a winger. Earnie Stewart must rate Wijlandum, having seen the defender rise through the ranks of AZ Alkmaar’s youth academy. This will be yet another occasion of Stewart using his international connections to strengthen the Union team. The fans, having put their faith into Stewart, must be excited about the prospect of having Giliano Wijnaldum in the blue and gold.
The second signing is forward Jay Simpson. With so much attention given to the forward position, it is no wonder the Union decided to bring in a veteran player to push and compete with CJ Sapong, who tallied 6 goals last year. Simpson, 28, brings a plethora of international experience with him to Philadelphia. The former Arsenal academy product has played for 6 clubs in England in his tenure, and one in Thailand, amassing 300 professional appearances, and 75 goals. Simpson started his career in the Arsenal academy, but made his professional debut while on loan at Millwall against League One side Huddersfield in 2007. He returned to Arsenal the next year, making 3 appearances in the League Cup. Simpson was loaned halfway through that season to West Brom, and went on to make 13 appearances in the league. Simpson was loaned to QPR and finally settled to a permanent location with Hull City in the 2010-11 season. He notched 13 goals in the proceeded 3 years. He then made the switch to Thailand for a brief stint before returning to England with Leyton Orient. While there he scored 36 times in 99 games.
The British forward brings hope to the Union faithful, as well as a proven scoring record in one of the toughest countries. There is no doubt the physical influence of the British game wore off on Simpson. Hopefully he can use his extensive experience to bring goals for the Union, and challenge CJ Sapong for the first team spot. Union fans will dream that Simpson will be the man to notch goals consistently, and be the threat than can score 10-15 goals every year.
Until we see how the new signings mesh with the rest of the squad, all we can do is speculate about their impact. But Earnie Stewart has earned the trust of those around him, so it’s safe to say that Union fans can expect great things from Wijnaldum and Simpson.
