Chester – With the MLS regular season entering its final stretch, the Philadelphia Union continue to gear up for a busy push toward silverware. Saturday night’s match against Toronto FC brings not only another chance to solidify their place atop the Supporters’ Shield race, but also marks the highly anticipated debut of new forward Milan Iloski. As head coach Bradley Carnell integrates new pieces and eyes a deep playoff run, all eyes will be on Subaru Park for what could be another defining night in Philadelphia’s season.
One thing that fans will be keeping an eye on Saturday night is the debut of the Philadelphia Union’s latest addition, forward Milan Iloski, whom the club acquired on a permanent transfer from FC Nordsjælland. He signed a contract through 2027 with an option for 2028, the club announced on Tuesday.
Iloski is no stranger to MLS, as just this year he was with expansion side San Diego, where he played in 14 matches, scoring 10 goals and recording one assist. He also made MLS history by scoring four goals in a 12-minute span against Vancouver Whitecaps FC—the fastest four-goal performance in league history.
“Milan is a dynamic, instinctive goal scorer who thrives in attacking transition,” said Ernst Tanner, Sporting Director, Philadelphia Union. “His ability to convert goal chances is extraordinary and he has a willingness to defend.”
Due to MLS rules, the Union first acquired the number one position in the MLS Waiver Order for the claiming period that commenced on July 15, 2025, from CF Montreal. This enabled the club to claim Iloski off waivers. In exchange, Montreal received the 21st spot in the waiver order, a guaranteed $100,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money, and up to an additional $150,000 in conditional GAM.
You can check out more about Milan in Jillian’s article she wrote earlier this week.
When asked about Iloski during his weekly press conference, Philadelphia head coach Bradley Carnell had this to add about the new striker addition to the room:
“I think it creates more layers of depth to or an already strong striking squad that we have. I think he’s really good in transition, connecting final plays, and I think he’s also good at finishing on final plays. And that’s he’s shown that in his 14 games in San Diego. So getting him up to speed. The staff has been working, you know, behind the scenes to show him stylistically, how we’re trying to go about our business. And, yeah, he does a lot of the things naturally. He’s excited about the last couple of days and how training has been, and he’s excited what’s to come.”
It is also worth noting that, according to FotMob.com, he leads MLS in goals per 90 minutes at a rate of 1.91. Lionel Messi sits at 1.05, and Baribo is third on the list, coming in at 0.95 to round out the top 3.
Iloski will now be paired with Tai Baribo, Bruno Damiani, and Mikael Uhre, adding additional depth at the forward position as the club makes a push for the Supporters’ Shield, U.S. Open Cup, and the upcoming MLS Cup Playoffs. As to how his skill set and versatility fit into the group, Carnell added this:
“A lot of his finishes are coming off sort of transitional moments as well. But also breaking down moments where he’s on a dribble or he’s creating some space for himself. And also he has a good range in his shooting, and I think we’ve seen that. But again, we have a few plans for him. We have a few ideas for him. He’s very versatile. He can play on the 10 and the nine and a half, you know, the floating nine a little bit.”
Beyond that, with Uhre’s option expiring at the end of this season, Milan’s addition gives the club some flexibility should they move on from the Danish striker or if some of the Tai Baribo rumors come to fruition. For now, the club has four solid strikers for the first time since 2022, when they had Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Cory Burke, and Sergio Santos that season—before Santos was moved to FC Cincinnati midseason.
Speaking of Tai, according to Jonathan Tannenwald of The Inquirer, Baribo received his green card, which is part of why he was not in the matchday roster last Saturday. The move opened up an international roster spot for the club, which Philadelphia promptly sold to Austin FC for $50,000 in 2026 General Allocation Money.
Whether or not Ernst Tanner and company have additional roster moves remains to be seen; however, the club and the rest of the league have until August 21 to make roster changes. Tom Bogert on Wednesday evening did mention that international center back Julian Martinez, who has 10 caps with Honduras, had interest from Philadelphia. However, the 21-year-old is heading to Portugal. So, could the Union still be in the market for another center back? That remains to be seen.
Finally, Cavan Sullivan is also back in the group after returning from Manchester City, where he spent some time training with his future club. When asked how the young player has been training since his return, Carnell expressed his pleasure with what he has seen in training from Sullivan.
“He’s pretty tough to stop in training at the moment. So, you know, he’s he’s put himself, you know, if he was a salesman, he’s given me the business card, and he’s presented his product, and the last couple days have been excellent. So, he’s made our lives lives of misery out there on the training pitch, which is in a good way.”
But there is a match at hand on Saturday night, as Toronto FC comes to town looking to avenge their defeat back in May, thanks to Kai Wagner’s stoppage-time goal that secured 3 points on the evening.
While Robin Fraser’s squad currently sits in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, they have made a few changes since the last time they faced Philadelphia. Gone are Federico Bernardeschi and Tyrese Spicer, and while the club has not made any moves in this current window, they can still pose a threat on Saturday night if Philadelphia has an off night.
“We knew playing against Toronto, whenever we did whatever Match Day, that was that structurally they were getting better, and over the last game since we faced them at the end of May, one data point, they’ve given up the third least shots so credit to them just being totally bought in as a group.
“So it’s not going to be easy to break them down, but at the same time, I think we’ve shown against a really good Frankfurt team and against other good teams in the league that also defend really in a compact, deep way that we can break down teams and we can, we can create from a lot of different sort of instances within our game model. So whether it’s in the possession phase, whether it’s in a transition or a set pieces, so I think it’s a great challenge.”
All-time, the Philadelphia Union is 8-4-4 at Subaru Park against Toronto, with a 13-goal advantage in 16 matches in MLS play. In their last five matches, Toronto FC has one win, one draw, and three losses and has not scored more than one goal, being shut out twice during that span.
Toronto will be relying on forward Theo Corbeanu, who leads the club with five goals and one assist on the season, to provide the threat in the attack. Another name to keep an eye on is newly acquired midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, signed as a Designated Player on Thursday from the Colorado Rapids for $8 million, with up to $1 million in conditional cash if certain performance-based metrics are met.
Philadelphia faced Mihailovic in their last match when he was with the Rapids. Djordje played the full 90 minutes in Philadelphia’s 3-1 victory, and while Carnell mentioned he was not sure if Mihailovic will play on Saturday, he is preparing for anything.
“We’re preparing for anything, and we’re preparing for their best, and they have a pretty good squad with Corbeanu, who you know out on that wing and is a dangerous dribbler, and they can hurt you in transition. We know that we found it out in the first game where we got hurt on transition, where a little bit sloppy in the details, but then we found a way to get back in the game. And you know, really use that quality in the final 20 minutes of the game to turn that one around. But you know, it’s not an easy game by no by no means.”
With nine matches left in the MLS regular season and the club still trying to remain on top of the Supporters’ Shield standings while continuing their run in the U.S. Open Cup, it will be an exciting finish to the season for Union fans. Three points Saturday night will help that for sure, but Carnell isn’t thinking too far ahead and appreciates where the club is at currently.
“Just to see the way the group is on the field at the moment, it’s special, regardless of how the season pans out, and turns out, it’s really special.”
The match is scheduled for 7:30pm from Subaru Park on Saturday evening. If you cannot make it to the match, it will be live on Apple TV+ as part of the MLS Season Pass.
Main Article Photo Courtesy of the Philadelphia
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