CHESTER, Pa.—The Philadelphia Union announced today that up and coming talent Malik Jakupovic, the 16-year-old striker who made a splash in 2025 with Union II and on the international stage, and recently made his MLS debut versus Chicago Fire on March 21, now has a homegrown contract with the Union through the 2029-2030 season, with an option for 2030-2031. It has been a swift rise for the young forward after joining the Union Academy in 2023 and signing with Union II in 2025.
“Malik has shown great growth since joining our academy, and his maturity at just 16 years old speaks to his professionalism and commitment,” said Philadelphia Union Interim Sporting Director, Jon Scheer in the Union’s press release. “He’s capitalized on his opportunities with Union II, first-team call-ups, and U.S. Youth National Team appearances, and we look forward to continuing to support his development with the first team.”
After joining the first team for training in Chester as preseason began, traveling to Marbella, Spain with them for training, he came in off the bench late in the first preseason match. He then proceeded to make appearances in Concacaf Champions Cup matches against Defence Force on February 26 and Club America on March 18, and also was on the bench for the away leg against Club America. In total, he had four first-team short-term call ups between CCC and MLS as he came off the bench against Chicago for his MLS debut, playing 28 minutes.
“So I’m excited to see even Malik Jakupovic grow within our ecosystem,” Union head coach Bradley Carnell had remarked in his preseason press conference with regard to young players getting to train with the first team. “You know, we saw him a handful of times. He’s been part of our training environment this week, which has been amazing to watch, and we keep on developing him.”
The 6’3″ Sterling Heights, Michigan native made his mark with the Union’s Academy, and was named to the Rising XI for the 2025 Generation Adidas Cup as a member of the U-18 squad, and was a 2025 MLS Next All Star. The dual United States/Bosnia and Herzegovina citizen has been called multiple times for the United States youth national team for the 2009 age group. He was called to the U-17 MNT for the Concacaf Qualifiers for the U-17 World Cup in February, where he was spectacular, scoring eight goals and leading the squad to a U-17 World Cup berth.
After signing with Union II in May 2025, he made his debut on on June 3 against FC Cincinnati 2, scoring a goal after coming off the bench. He scored in each of his next four appearances, including a brace on July 7 against Toronto FC II. He made his first start on July 30 against Carolina Core, and started the next match as well, but mostly was used as a substitute. His knack for finding the back of the net late in games showed his ability to finish and be a dangerous presence on the attack. As Union II head coach Ryan Richter said regarding Jakupovic, “He knows where the goal is.”
Jakupovic made 16 regular season starts for Union II in 2025, scoring eight goals to tie Stas Korzeniowski for the team lead in regular season goals. He played in all three playoff matches as well. Considering he only played 417 minutes to Korzeniowski’s 1153, it was quite an impressive feat.
In 2026, where he has started all four games for Union II, he has two goals so far. With how he seemed to hold his own and seem as though he belonged there when playing at the MLS level, it remains to be seen how his role will evolve between first and second team. It should be an exciting journey to observe.
Main article photo credit: Philadelphia Union
The One Team We Agree On 
Leave a comment