Philadelphia Union make Julian Carranza's Inter Miami exit permanent

The move of 22-year old forward Julian Carranza to Philadelphia is now permanent as the Union utilized their purchase option in his loan agreement. Inter Miami reportedly receives $500k in General Allocation Money (GAM) as a part of the move. Carranza had been on loan to Philadelphia.

Miami will also receive a future sell-on percentage, though the exact amount of that % is unknown. What this means is that if Philadelphia sells Carranza, that an agreed to percentage of that amount will head to Miami. So, Miami could get more than the 500K in GAM, but we don't know the exact amount yet.

As a breakdown of the GAM, according to MLSsoccer.com, the GAM will be split up evenly between 2023 and 2024.

Carranza was sent out on loan to Philadelphia prior to this season, where he has had a breakout season of sorts.

Philadelphia Union have bought Julian Carranza from Inter Miami

Philadelphia making the move permanent is not surprising. Carranza has been strong for the Union this season, and he has played a valuable role in them being one of the best clubs in the East (they currently are top of the Eastern Conference table). On the season for Philly, Carranza has seven goals and four assists. He is completing 70.2% of his passes.

The Carranza situation has likely been a tad frustrating for Miami fans. After he was one of their initial key additions as an expansion franchise, he was unable to carve out a consistent starting spot and mainly served as a reserve player. Then he went to Philly on loan and is playing well, and now he gets moved permanently.

For Miami, Carranza played two seasons where he scored just three goals across 41 appearances (with just 11 starts).

This 'value' of the move might also cause some frustration for fans because many will view this as Miami not receiving the value they sent out for Carranza. When Miami brought Carranza in, it was for a reported $6m transfer fee. While getting $500k in GAM back for someone you spent $6m on a couple of years ago isn't great, if you look at this from just a current vacuum, this gives Miami more flexibility to help their team in the next two seasons.

It's also important to remember that when Carranza was loaned to Philadelphia, Miami received a second round pick in this past year's Superdraft (which is par for the course for Philadelphia, as they rarely make picks in the draft). Miami ended up selecting Tyler Bagley with that pick. Bagley is currently playing for Inter Miami II in MLS Next Pro. Bagley has two goals across 457 minutes for Inter Miami II this season.

So, in totality, Miami received $500k in GAM ($250k in 2023 GAM, $250k in 2024 GAM), Tyler Bagley, and a sell-on%. The development of Bagley, what that sell-on% turns into, and what Miami does with the GAM will likely determine how this full move is viewed in several years.

What the move becoming permanent also did, is it allowed for Carranza to play against Miami on Wednesday night. That's why the timing of the deal was so important. In MLS, if a player is loaned from one MLS club to another, that player cannot play against his original team. Miami and Philadelphia were set to play Wednesday night in an important match for both clubs. Since Philadelphia made the move permanent prior to the match on Wednesday, it allowed Carranza to play against his former team.

Carranza played 29 minutes on Wednesday as Philly beat Miami 2-1. In the match, he completed 72.7% of his passes and drew four fouls.

The next 6-12 months promise to be a crucial time of roster change for Inter Miami, with there likely being DPs moved out and in. Plus other roster changes as well. This move gives Miami some assets for the next two years that will help the club with roster building then.

Miami has also seen the likes of Leo Campana emerge up top this season, which makes the loss and emergence of Carranza easier to deal with.

All in all, it was a tough situation with Carranza not panning out with Miami, and then breaking out in Philly. However, it's not the worst thing that's ever happened and Miami now has some assets moving forward as they try to improve some of their earlier roster building and decisions.