The Union sign a Delran-born midfielder four years after he left the team’s academy

The Union brought a former academy player back to the club’s ranks on Tuesday, four years after he left to go to college and turn pro elsewhere.

Jeremy Rafanello, a 22-year-old attacking midfielder from Delran, signed a one-and-a-half year contract with the Union with team options for 2024 and 2025.

Rafanello was a notable prospect in the Union’s youth academy as a teenager, including two games for the Union’s reserve team in the summer of 2018. But he didn’t make the cut to turn pro at the end of high school and went to college at Penn State.

After one season with the Nittany Lions, Rafanello left to turn pro in Denmark with FC Helsingör in the summer of 2019. He only stayed there a few months, returning to the United States to join second-tier USL Championship team Indy Eleven in early 2020. At the start of 2021, he moved to the New York Red Bulls’ reserve team, which also plays in the USL Championship.

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Rafanello played in 18 games for the Red Bulls’ reserves this year, registering three goals and an assist and wearing the captain’s armband twice — including in his last game for the team on July 24. He suffered an ankle injury in that game, which is why he hasn’t played since.

The player and club agreed to a mutual parting of ways to clear the path for his return to Philadelphia, which allowed the Union to not have to pay a transfer fee in the deal.

Interestingly, the Union’s deal classifies Rafanello as a homegrown player even though he went to college and played in the Red Bulls’ organization.

That is because he has not played in MLS since graduating from the Union academy’s high school in Wayne. A Union spokesperson said league rules allowed the team to retain the ability to sign Rafanello as a homegrown player through the end of next year as long as he did not play in MLS.

“We are very excited to bring Jeremy home to the Union,” sporting director Ernst Tanner said in a statement. “He was a standout in our academy and after developing his game both locally and abroad, we are confident he can contribute to multiple roles in our system. “He clearly has the mentality we look for in young players and is yet another example of the strong talent we continue to foster in our academy.”