The Union will be at full strength for the first time all year vs. Minnesota

As surprising as it was that the Union upset the Timbers in Portland last weekend, one factor that got overlooked isn’t so surprising.

It was the first time since the season started that the team had a full week of rest and training between games, instead of bouncing from one game to the next with only a day or two of work in between.

“Obviously, we’ve talked about the Champions League being an honor to play in those games, but it is taxing on the players with the travel, midweek [games], all the things that go along with it,” said manager Jim Curtin in a news conference Friday ahead of Saturday’s home game vs. Minnesota United — a rare afternoon kickoff at Subaru Park (2 p.m., Apple TV).

“To have a full week with the group — still guys coming back a little later in the week from national team [duty] — but to have a week on the training field with the guys, I think, is very valuable. Obviously some soreness from national team duty for some of them that played a lot of minutes, but everybody’s fully fit and ready to go.”

Minnesota has been a pleasant surprise this season. Under a new manager, 32-year-old former Manchester United assistant Eric Ramsay, the Loons have the Western Conference’s best record through four games at 3-0-1 (10 points).

» READ MORE: How the Union pulled off one of their most unexpected wins ever, 3-1 at Portland

“They are a really dangerous team, and you can tell they’re getting acclimated to a new coach,” Curtin said. “You can tell that they’re really strong on the counter-press and winning balls back and work hard against the ball, as well as, obviously, the attacking talent.”

The Athletic reported the expected financial terms of the Union’s contract with Manchester City for Cavan Sullivan on Friday: a $2.1 million transfer fee up front, nearly $3 million in future bonuses, and “a hefty sell-on clause” for a cut of City selling Sullivan elsewhere in the future.

The 14-year-old’s deal isn’t done yet, and the Union and the Sullivan family have said they won’t comment officially until it is. So it wasn’t surprising that Curtin declined to address the news Friday.

“l’ll have a lot to say about Cavan and the whole situation when things are finalized,” he said. “I wish I could comment, but I think you guys understand the reasons why I can’t. Special talent, top talent in not only this country but in the world, and hopefully things can get finalized.”

But he had plenty to say indirectly, which also wasn’t surprising.

Few people know better than he does what it took to get Sullivan to turn pro with his hometown club instead of holding out to join Manchester City’s global network directly at age 16. And few people know the Sullivan family better, since Cavan’s father, Brendan, and grandfather Larry, were Curtin’s college coaches at Villanova.

» READ MORE: Top prospect Cavan Sullivan will turn pro with the Union before joining Man City in a few years

“We’ve aspired and want to be the club that every young American kid wants to come and play for, and we want our environment to be such that they get better and better here,” Curtin said. “They win things here first and foremost — please don’t mistake that, we want to win first. But when the time is right, we also recognize player development is huge, and we believe very much in the American player.”

Curtin compared what he wants to see from the Union, and MLS as a whole, to the vaunted Kentucky men’s basketball program. Coach John Calipari has long been among the nation’s best at propelling prospects from a big-time college stage to the NBA, as Philly-area natives Justin Edwards and D.J. Wagner can attest to.

“A coach that has freshmen that he has a big idea for,” Curtin said, “and that idea is bigger than playing four years at Kentucky and team bonding and things like that. It’s more about producing pros.”

But was the analogy a little too on the nose? Just as the Union have only one major trophy in their 15-year history, the Wildcats haven’t won an NCAA Tournament since 2012 and haven’t reached a Final Four since 2015. Much of Big Blue Nation wants Calipari canned after this year’s first-round flop.

“I think we have an incredible fan base that understands that and has embraced it,” Curtin said. “I like nothing more than watching kids get better and better and better, and when the time is right winning things here, but then also having successful careers in Europe. I think that is special. ... That’s the way we do things, and we’re proud of it.”

Sullivan’s next game action will be with the Union’s under-17 team in the Generation Adidas Cup in Bradenton, Fla. The squad’s opener against Mexico’s Atlas on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. will be broadcast live in Apple’s MLS streaming package.

» READ MORE: Rained-out Union-Sounders game rescheduled to April 30