Man City relegation could be ‘very good’ for USMNT wonderkid Cavan Sullivan as teen sensation waits on Premier League verdict & punishments in FFP case

That is because 114 Financial Fair Play charges continue to hang over the Etihad Stadium - with initial guilty verdicts being delivered by an independent commission on that many counts. Various sanctions have been speculated on for a team that remains in the 2026-27 trophy hunt.

Sullivan is counting down the days until he forms part of that party, with a high-profile move to Manchester being confirmed in May 2024 when signing a homegrown contract with the Philadelphia Union.

He made his MLS debut for them aged just 14 years and 293 days - breaking a record that had previously been held by Freddy Adu. Headlines have been generated around the world since then, with levels of excitement inevitably building around the hottest of prospects.

Sullivan is now an established star in Major League Soccer and a senior international with the United States - with his goal account at that level being opened in a 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Mexico on October 3, 2026 that saw him become his nation’s youngest scorer at 17 years and five days old.

His ongoing development has been handled with care, and the expectation is that said process will continue when officially becoming a City player. Loan transfers have been mooted, but if the Blues find themselves in the Championship next term could Sullivan be drafted straight into their first-team fold?

Asked about the impact that a sporting soap opera in Manchester could have on Sullivan’s short and long-term plans, ex-USMNT goalkeeper Friedel - who was speaking in association with Grosvenor Sport - told GOAL: “At this moment in time, until the sanctions come out and until the appeal is heard, I don't think a lot of anything affects the players. And he would be the same.

“I don't really think what's going on affects the players until or unless the sanctions come and they're massive and they won't be able to play in Europe and there's going to be a transfer ban or the points deductions will never allow them to get into European football for the next five years or whatever, or it has them getting relegated. That's when it would start affecting the players.

“No doubt he and the representatives, mainly his representatives with his age, will be monitoring the situation. But I can't see it affecting the current players at this moment in time that are on the books. And I can't imagine it's affecting someone like him.

“He's still a player that has not played one second in a top league in the world. Let's just fast forward a moment and say they do get a points deduction which gets them relegated. Playing in the Championship might do them a world of good because you might come to a club where he gets an opportunity to play right away.

“If they do get relegated, look back in history, probably the best case for this historically is Juventus. And Juventus, a couple of the icons stayed, but they had a lot of changes at the club as well.

“So it might be very good for him because he could come in and actually have a chance to play. I think all the players just have to monitor the situation, but it doesn't really get real for them until or unless the sanctions are going to affect their personal careers.”

Adu, who once found himself in a similar professional boat to Sullivan, has previously suggested to GOAL that a spell in the Championship may be beneficial to a youngster that will need time in which to find his feet in the English game.

He said: “As a player, you cannot think that you're too big to go on loan to any team in the Championship from Man City or a smaller team. That's exactly what you need as a player at that point.”

Adu went on to say: “I do think that's what's going to happen. I do think that he will go on loan. But when he does go on loan, I really hope that it's to a team that he will be a regular starter for.

“There's nothing worse than a young player going on loan to a team, to a, quote-unquote, lesser team than the team you're being loaned from and not playing or being a regular starter. Because the whole point of going on loan is so that you become a regular starter. You get the minutes you need to get the experience you need and you develop as a player while doing all those things.

“If you do go on loan and you're not doing all those things, what is the point of that loan? Because I could just stay in that team and not play. I could just stay in my parent team and not play.”

Tab Ramos, another ex-USMNT star, told GOAL back in March that Sullivan could be eased into European action by spending time in the Eredivisie. He said: “If I were to look down the road and assess what happens with young players and see the level where he is at, the physicality of the game in England, if I had to predict, I’d have to say that he signs for Man City and goes and plays in Holland for a couple of years.”

Those comments were made before the threat of a stint in the Championship became alarmingly real for City, with the Premier League heavyweights having protested their innocence throughout a protracted monetary misdemeanours saga.

For now, Sullivan is focused on events in Philadelphia and the 2026 MLS Cup play-offs. He will also be hoping to earn further international recognition when Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT face off against Haiti in the CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals - with the first leg of that tie set to take place on November 14.