CHESTER, Pa. — With the news of Kai Wagner’s return to the Philadelphia Union on Friday on a deal through the 2028-2029 season with a club option for the 2029-2030 season, Wagner met with members of the media for the first time since his return on Saturday outside the WSFS Sports Complex following first team training.
“Jon (Scheer) called me like two days before he got hired, and I had a really, really good conversation with him,” Wagner said about his conversation with the club’s sporting director. “But like of course during the whole season, I followed the club the whole time, and everybody knows how much this club means to me, and so I was always following them, and I couldn’t see like how this club is just going down in the moment, and for me, like when I had the conversation with Jon, it was pretty clear that I wanted to do that.”
Obviously it had to have been tough for the Philadelphia Union veteran left back watching from afar and seeing his old club struggle following winning their second Supporters’ Shield in 2025 only to see the club sitting in last place in the league with 7 points and 1 win, 4 draws, and 10 losses through 15 matches prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup break.
Also given the departure of him, Jakob Glesnes, Tai Baribo, and Mikael Uhre, Wagner says that given the departures on the off season, the early results were not shocking, but he still felt that Philadelphia could turn it around.
“I think everybody could see it coming a little bit,” he said on the first half results. “But on the other side, you always thought like, okay, maybe they can still turn the ship around. Yeah, and it’s sometimes hard to say or maybe stupid to say for myself, but I also personally felt a little bit guilty, just like that that the team doesn’t do that well anymore. And when I see all my friends here and how they wrote me the whole time after each game, I was watching the games like at 1:30 in the morning or like really late in the night. I think I missed one game because we also had a game the next day, but on the other side, I couldn’t see the ship going down. That’s why the conversation started really early with Jon. It was a really, really hard process.”
And it had to be a tough process for him and his family for sure after a seven-month stint with Birmingham City F.C. in England’s EFL Championship where he made 18 appearances across all competitions, recording three assists and scoring once in an FA Cup Third Round match against Cambridge United. The German defender was seeing success overseas.
“The league was really fun to play at,” Kai said about playing in the EFL Championship. “The level was really, really high. Pace of the game was unbelievable. So I think I grew a lot. Like during this time, just to see a different league, the different stadiums, the atmospheres in some of the stadiums, were just like unbelievable. And for me personally, like I went there, was not the main guy anymore, and like maybe also had a little bit of pressure off my shoulders and stuff like this. But for me, it was like I couldn’t really think about anything there because I got straight thrown in.”
However, the message that Scheer had given Kai about coming was enough to convince the 29-year-old German to return home to Chester for the second time in his career.
“Yeah, look, like we, as much as we want to develop players, development is a tool for us to try and win,” Scheer said. “You know, and I think we we’ve talked about getting that balance right. And for Kai, knowing that our intention is to try to win and compete for trophies and championships and silverware in MLS, I think this is something that speaks to him. But also the fact that he’s connected to this city is something that was really powerful for us. You know it really hurt him seeing us struggle the first half of the season, and he wanted to come back and try to help help us get back to again where we belong.”
“I think that was the main targets from Jon, just to bring mentality and leadership back to the team, and for, he knows thatI can step in and I don’t need a lot of time to like adapt to everything, and just to like the small conversations of each player,” Wagner said about the importance of his leadership that he can bring the to club moving forward.
But Wagner admitted that it was still a tough decision for him and his family to leave a club that they had only spent seven months at prior to the transfer back to Philadelphia.
“When the family heard about it, they were all open to it,” he said. “Sometimes they thought like, okay, maybe we should stick there a little bit longer, just to try it out because I really liked the league and stuff like this too. But for me, when Jon called me and told me like the clear message, what he wanted to bring to the team and what he wants to change in the team. For me, it was straight clear that I want to talk to the club, try to make this happen.”
Kai will also be reunited with interim head coach Ryan Richter who was part of Jim Curtin’s staff from 2022-2024 and has built a relationship with during his first stint with the club and is excited for what Richter can bring to this club.
“We started right away when Jon called me, and me and Ryan were in contact during the whole process during probably, it was I don’t know how long it was, probably over six weeks now and all this stuff,” he said on the discussions between him and Richter.
“And yeah, like we are really honest to each other, we always liked each other when he was the assistant coach here already too. We also got sometimes in fights because he also is a guy who likes to be loud and like tries to go into players sometimes. But now, just how he came to me and said how we’re gonna play this one, we sat together already and showed me just like a little bit new the playing style and stuff like this, because a little bit changed from last year.”
Beyond the club’s vision moving forward and reunited with a former coach, Kai talked about two players in particular when asked about the growth and development he has seen from Cavan Sullivan and Frankie Westfield in particular.
“Frankie always reminds me of myself a little bit,” he said when asked about the development of Westfield from this year to last. “I think Frankie also stepped here on the field and wasn’t thinking about a lot. You know, like he’s also such a mentality player, and I see myself often in him because he’s also a real fighter on the team. He’s also a real fighter in every game. He doesn’t hesitate to go in any tackle and the service that he can provide from the outside I think can be really dangerous for us now too because now we have on both sides somebody who can serve a ball. So to have that is a really really good thing.”
And as for Sullivan?
“He was the guy in offense who was dictating the game a little bit more, and I think what he really showed this year is that he can do it in games now, ” Kai said. “It’s just about him, like to to do that every game and just to do whatever he’s capable of. And now the next part for him is the defensive part a little bit more. But like offensive, he can help us a lot.”
However, throughout the eleven minute conversation with Kai, one thing was clear: that he and his family are happy to be back home and part of the Philadelphia Union moving forward, and he is excited for the second half the MLS Regular season.
“I think there’s already a lot of belief,” Wagner said in the club moving forward and the happiness from his teammates to see him back. “Milan texted me like two weeks ago, and Jovan was so happy to see again and stuff like this. I think these are all players who like really have belief now on the field again, and just to see them this morning, I felt so happy that I made that step back, and the the guys, the boys in there were also so happy. I will not forget Dre’s face when I told him last week, and so I think that shows us just like that they believe again, but like of course we have to bring him in the field now.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to have familiar face back in the building,” Nate Harriel said on Wagner’s return. “I mean, the record he speaks for himself. What he’s accomplished here, so yeah, it’s good to have him back for the second half of the season for us to improve in every aspect of the field, on the field. So yeah, it’s good having him back.”
So when the Union kick off next Wednesday at home in the friendly confines of Subaru Park, there is some renewed optimism despite the club knowing they have a lot of work to do moving forward to get up into the playoff picture from their current standings.
“I just hope that the fans will come back and I hope that the stadium will fill up because now we have three really important home games coming up, not just a Wednesday game, but like I think Wednesday we have to step with the right mindset on the field, go in there and get the fans back behind us, and then we will see what the second half of the season brings to us. But like I said, I came here because I want to go back to the playoffs, and that’s the main target.”
And whether he feels he is ready to play on Wednesday against Red Bull New York?
“Of course, I’m always ready to play. But like like I said, we had three weeks of preseason already. I think I’m a really good place again. Talked this morning to just be honest with each other. But like I said, my fitness level is really good. I just had to get used to the heat again and all this stuff because everybody knows the weather over there was a little bit different. I didn’t see any sun the first five months, but like like I said, I’m I think just like the adrenaline and all the stuff, the things which will go into Wednesday when you go into the stadium and just see everybody in there again.”
We will have more from us in the coming days on the interview with sporting director Jon Scheer and Nate Harriel. But for now, Kai Wagner is happy to be back with the Union and will be a vital piece for the club moving forward.
Jillian Almoney contributed to this article.
Main Article Photo Courtesy of the Philadelphia Union
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