Union sign Homegrown left back Frankie Westfield

The Union continued a busy week by signing defender Frankie Westfield to a Homegrown contract on Thursday.

Westfield, a native of Philadelphia, is an Academy product who had been a vice captain of Union II last season. He’s signed through 2028, with a club option for 2029.

At 5-7, 165 pounds, he just turned 19 in December. He was the seventh Academy signing for Union II when he joined in 2021 and has long been ticketed for the first team. He started all 26 matches last year for Union II, with a team-high 2,313 minutes played, providing six goals and six assists. He was named to MLS Next Pro’s Best XI, part of a team that won the Eastern Conference championship.

Westfield played for the U.S. Under-20 team, starting last fall. The left back follows central defender Neil Pierre in signing this week.

“If you look at the club as a whole, and what the club stands for, it’s development,” coach Bradley Carnell said in a Zoom call. “So Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre have shown great, great development over time with Union II and showing some real good signs of what the potential looks like. At the same time, we want to reward those players and put them in an environment where they can grow and strive to reach great things and to achieve their dreams, as well, as young pros.”

Westfield is the 27th Homegrown in club history. He’s the 28th player under contract for the Union in 2025. Eleven of those are Homegrown players. Westfield is one of seven Homegrowns and 11 Union players who’ve never started an MLS match before.

The two Homegrowns join Jovan Lukic, who was signed from Serbia on Wednesday. He is, in Carnell’s words, a “ball-winning six” who fits the midfield mold for a team doubling down on counterattacking soccer.

“He’s pretty tidy on the ball,” Carnell said. “We had a good interview process with him. He’s a really good character. He speaks English fluently, so there’s no integration time there. He’s gelled in with the players perfectly, better than I even expected. So he’s settled in really, really well. He came in fit. He has some real hunger about the game and shows some real desire, and has a winner mentality.”