Union shells out record transfer fee for new signee Bruno Damiani

CHESTER — Ernst Tanner sat at Subaru Park in November, after dismissing Jim Curtin as head coach, and promised that the Union would undergo a roster overhaul this winter.

The German sporting director’s definition might not meet American sports standards for what that word means. But at each level of the field, Tanner has added players he believes will make a significant impact. The latest carries the distinction of the club’s record signing.

The Union Tuesday unveiled Bruno Damiani, a Uruguayan forward that Tanner hopes will lead the line in a refurbished squad in its first year under Bradley Carnell.

Damiani, 22, joins 23-year-old Serbian midfielder Jovan Lukic and 23-year-old Argentine center back Ian Glavinovich as young players Tanner hopes are developing into players who can revitalize the squad. With younger players bubbling up through the Academy, guys in their mid-20s – last summer’s signing of 24-year-old Danley Jean Jacques fits, too – are the new center of this team.

“I think all our new signings are in their best performance age, or are coming to their best performance age,” Tanner said. “And that’s what we need to do. Not too many weeks ago, I was sitting here and telling you about the overhaul of the roster, and that’s what we have pretty much completed. And maybe there is something to do in addition, but we need to see what we have and also what fits in the budget.”

Damiani turns 23 in April. He arrives on a reported transfer fee north of $3 million, which sets the club record, past what was spent on Mikael Uhre. He’ll occupy a young designated player spot. The contract runs through 2028, with a 2029 club option. He’s the first Uruguayan signed in club history.

He is a product of Montevideo powerhouse Nacional, where he’s been since age 7. He played 15 games for Nacional starting in 2023, then spent 2024 on loan to Boston River, where he scored 12 goals and five assists in 38 matches. He blossomed last fall, with eight goals in the first nine matches of the Clausura season to win consecutive Player of the Month honors. In May, the 6-2, 176-pounder earned a call-up to a Uruguayan A team for a friendly with Costa Rica.

“I think it’s a very good place to grow up, to continue my career,” Damiani said Tuesday, in hesitant but clear English that Tanner said is an asset in his acclimation. “It’s a big step, and I’m very happy to be here.”

With Nacional, Damiani played with a number of countrymen who have made the jump to MLS. That includes Felipe Carballo, now on loan to New York Red Bulls, and former Orlando City captain Mauricio Pereyra, who returned to Uruguay in 2024 after a decade away from his boyhood club. In vetting the Union’s interest, Damiani also talked to former Nacional teammate Francisco Ginella, a forward who spent parts of four seasons with LAFC.

“I talked about all the things about it, the life here and MLS that is very complicated to understand, the matches and the conference,” he said. “We talked all about that.”

Damiani gives the Union a rarity in the club’s history, with three starting-caliber forwards. Uhre and Tai Baribo presume to be the starting pairing when the season opens Saturday night in Orlando, having started together 16 times last year after Julian Carranza’s departure for Dutch club Feyenoord. It will take time for Damiani to get up to speed.

Damiani is in the mold of a typical Uruguayan No. 9, a pipeline that has produced Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan in the last two decades (Suarez, now with Inter Miami, hails from Nacional). Damiani is used to playing up top alone, though he gives the Union more options, if Carnell opts to play a 4-2-3-1 instead of the 4-4-2 diamond that has been employed in recent years or its related 4-2-2-2 derivative.

“I told them that I used to play always as a solo striker, but I like to have someone close to me to win the aerials and make some passes,” Damiani said. “So I will be good with any one of those models.”

What’s more important, as the Union pivot back toward a more orthodox counterattacking side, is a forward who understands the defensive responsibilities of the No. 9 role. Carranza was a standout in that regard, to a degree that really sunk in once he departed.

The Union hope that Damiani can have the same kind of impact.

“We know he’s really a philosophy player,” Carnell said. “He’s aggressive against the ball, holds up the play really well, strong in the air, and a dominating threat in the box. All of these things fit into our game model, and it all speaks to exactly how he can complement the team.”