On Wednesday, Philadelphia Union announced the signing of trialist Ilsinho. The Brazilian will be with Philadelphia on a two-year deal that was paid down using Major League Soccer Targeted Allocation Money. For roster purposes, Ilsinho will use a International Roster Spot.
“We’re extremely excited to land a player of Ilsinho’s caliber and that he chose Philadelphia over other options,” Philadelphia Union Sporting Director Earnie Stewart said in a press release. “For a player with experience at the highest level in this sport, he came into our preseason camp with a tremendous work rate and that speaks to the type of person he is and who we want at our club. His elite-level attacking ability speaks for itself and we’re confident he’ll have an immediate impact.”
Ilsinho Brings A Lot To Philly
Before joining Philadelphia, Ilsinho was a member of Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk FC from 2012 to 2015. The 30-year-old winger brings a pedigree of playing at the highest level in Europe as he made 19 appearances in the UEFA Champions League while with Shakhtar. In those 19 appearances, he helped lead his side out of group play twice.
The signing of a Ilsinho adds to the already impressive lineup the Union have in the midfield. Further, the capped Brazilian International will help bring quality to a position that sorely lacked last season for the Union. To add, as a winger with a high work rate and high motor, he could theoretically help transition Philadelphia Head Coach Jim Curtin’s team to the much-discussed 4-3-3 formation that Sporting Director Stewart favored at his time with AZ Alkmaar.
As spoken about by aforementioned Stewart, Ilsinho will add to the attack bolstered by the newly extended CJ Sapong as well as the returning Tranquilo Barnetta.
Philadelphia will kick off their 2016 MLS Regular Season campaign when they traveled to Dallas to take on FC Dallas on March 6th.