Israeli international close to joining Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia is getting a new striker. 

Philadelphia Union are nearing an agreement for Wolfsberger striker Tai Baribo according to reports out of Austria.

Baribo, 25, has dominated in the Austrian Bundesliga during his two seasons with 27 goals and 4 assists across 61 appearances. The striker will occupy a Designated Player spot.

Baribo joined Wolfsberger in the midst of their 21/22 campaign from Maccabi Petah Tikva, where the forward began his career. Baribo spent five seasons with the first-team across Israel’s top and second divisions, making 120 appearances and netting 25 goals.

An established Israel International, Baribo debuted for the Blue and Whites in 2022, and has since scored three times for his country.

Baribo is an immensely physical striker, using his strength and speed to overpower defenders. Usually, Baribo will make direct runs at goals looking for balls to get on to and finishing them. Baribo has a quality right foot, making him dangerous from almost every angle.

The Israeli striker joins a Union squad in need of quality up top. Julián Carranza and Mikael Uhre are Jim Curtin’s only natural strikers, a problem for a system that plays with two. If Uhre and Carranza can’t be paired, Curtin has used academy products Chris Donovan and 19-year-old Quinn Sullivan in one of their places. Winger Joaquín Torres has also been deployed as a makeshift number 9.

Carranza is attracting interest from abroad, so in case of his move, Philadelphia will have an in-house replacement ready to go. Until then, having three strikers is a luxury Jim Curtin has been waiting all season for.