Union star playmaker Dániel Gazdag gave his fans a Christmas present by revealing he’s in talks for a contract extension with the team.
While at home in Hungary with his family during the offseason, Gazdag gave the news to Hungarian TV channel M4 Sport.
“After the season, obviously a lot of people were looking for my agent,” he said. “For now I can’t say much about it. He talked to many teams, many agents. We are also communicating with the Union about a possible extension, which is in a very advanced state.”
After scoring a team-record 24 goals and dishing out six assists in 2022, Gazdag is heading into the first of two team-held option years in his current deal. The Union paid a $1.8 million transfer fee to acquire him from Hungarian club Honvéd in 2020, but the 26-year-old has never been a Designated Player, because his salary hasn’t been all that big.
This year, he earned $586,250 — well below the DP threshold of $612,500. In 2023, the threshold is set to be $651,250.
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“My club still has a two-year option, which if we extend it, I can only win from that point of view, since there will be better terms in my agreement,” Gazdag said.
If he keeps playing well, he’ll surely continue to attract interest from foreign suitors. As he said, there have already been some this winter. He told M4 Sport that he’d like to play in Spain some day, and no soccer fan would blame him for that — especially when it’s below freezing in Philadelphia.
But for now, he’s happy to stay with the Union, and get a raise along the way. The Union have never started a season with three Designated Players on their roster. If Gazdag becomes one, he’d join Mikael Uhre and Julián Carranza. Most MLS teams have had three at once at some point, and Union fans have been waiting for their turn.
Gazdag indicated that staying in MLS wouldn’t hurt his standing with Hungary’s national team, which will begin qualifying for the 2024 European Championship in March. Though the Magyars didn’t qualify for this year’s World Cup, they played well in the recent UEFA Nations League group stage — including four games unbeaten against Germany and England. Had they not been swept by Italy, they’d have qualified for the semifinals.
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“[MLS] is developing quickly — a lot of money is being pumped into the league, the 2026 World Cup is already floating in front of their eyes,” Gazdag said. “By then, they want to bring MLS to a level where it can even be compared to one of the top leagues. There are a lot of good players in the league, and they can sign young footballers from Europe, which was not the case before. This proves that MLS is getting more and more attractive and better.”
Gazdag played in four of the six Nations League group games, scoring a memorable breakaway goal that capped off a 4-0 win at England. He admitted he still watches the goal on his phone.
“I think this was one of my most beautiful nights,” he said. “I don’t think anyone expected us to win, especially not by four goals. Beating the English by four would be a great result for any national team, even the recent World Cup winners Argentina, so it was a historic night for us Hungarians.”
The Union haven’t confirmed their preseason schedule yet, but they’re likely to start training camp in mid-January, as they usually do. The season opener is Feb. 25 vs. Columbus at Subaru Park.
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