{"id":2772,"date":"2026-07-18T21:10:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T21:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2772"},"modified":"2026-07-18T21:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T21:10:54","slug":"kai-wagner-is-happy-to-be-back-with-the-union-and-to-be-one-of-the-teams-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2772","title":{"rendered":"Kai Wagner is happy to be back with the Union \u2014 and to be one of the team\u2019s leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It might be too clich\u00e9 to say that, as Kai Wagner walked off the Union\u2019s practice field on Saturday, it felt like he\u2019d never left.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2770\">Taylor Farms expands iceberg lettuce recall to 27 states, including Pa. and N.J.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But considering that he was only gone for six months, he really did fit right back into things when he returned to Chester.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Of course, the clearest sign that he really did leave is the Union having the worst record in MLS (1-10-4, 7 points) as the league returns from its World Cup break. The quest to change that will begin Wednesday when Red Bull New York visits Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) for the first of 19 games left in the regular season.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe have to step with the right mindset on the field, and go in there and get the fans back behind us,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cAnd then we will see what the second half of the season brings for us. But I came here because I want to go back to the playoffs, and that\u2019s the main target.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Happy to be home \ud83d\ude01 pic.twitter.com\/39WFKy8ia3<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Some of what Wagner said sounded a little more like his side of the story than the full story. He didn\u2019t go too deep on how much his family wanted to return here, and he didn\u2019t say anything about the Union paying a $4 million transfer fee to bring him back \u2014 one of the higher sums in team history, and well above the $2.5 million they sold him for.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But it was nonetheless clear that Wagner had kept a close eye on the Union after leaving, and wasn\u2019t happy about the team\u2019s collapse this year.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s sometimes hard to say, maybe stupid to say for myself, but I also personally felt a little bit guilty that the team doesn\u2019t do that well anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I see all my friends here and how they wrote me the whole time after each game \u2014 I was watching the games at 1:30 in the morning [in England] \u2026 I couldn\u2019t [bear to] see the ship going down.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>So when Jon Scheer called to make the first big deal of his tenure as sporting director, Wagner was open to it.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen Jon called me and told me the clear message of what he wanted to bring to the team and what he wanted to change in the team, for me it was straight [away] clear that I wanted to talk to the club to try to make this happen,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2768\">The largest teachers union in Pennsylvania endorsed Brian Fitzpatrick in high-stakes Bucks County reelection bid<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Wagner enjoyed his time in Europe, as brief as it was. He wanted for years to go, as the perennial offseason rumblings from his camp showed. But the Union got the point, and ultimately agreed to help make it happen.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI would always do that step again,\u201d Wagner said of going abroad. \u201cFor me this experience was something really special. I hopefully have a lot of years left, but at the end of my career if I would say to myself I never tried it or I never did it, I would always say to myself why I never did it \u2014 even if it was just seven months, the experience was unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Being at Birmingham City specifically came with some extra perks. Though he didn\u2019t meet part-owner Tom Brady, they exchanged text messages a few times. And in a February FA Cup home game against Leeds United, Wagner got his first chance to play against a Premier League opponent \u2014 one that happened to have an old friend in Union alum Brenden Aaronson.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><svg><g><g><g><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe had a long, long chat after the game, and that was a special game,\u201d Wagner said, and he got to talk with Brenden\u2019s father, Rusty Aaronson, too. \u201cI saw one post from you guys where you said you thought that I would tackle Brenden, but Brenden tackled me the first time. It was really fun to play against him \u2014 I got his jersey, too, at home, and we had a really good relationship with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Though the penalty shootout loss after a 1-1 tie didn\u2019t go Birmingham\u2019s way, Wagner still called it \u201cone of the top three games probably of my career, just with the atmosphere and all that stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He particularly noted that he \u201cwas not the main guy anymore, and maybe also had a little bit of pressure off my shoulders.\u201d That won\u2019t be the case with the Union, and he knows it.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThat was the main target from Jon, just bring mentality and leadership back to the team,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cHe knows that I can step in and I don\u2019t need a lot of time to adapt to everything. \u2026 I think these are all players who really have belief now on the field again, and just to see them this morning, I felt so, so happy that I made that step back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2767\">Phillies game against Mets moved up to 3:05 p.m. start due to inclement weather<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&quot;I came here because I want to go back to the playoffs, and that\u2019s the main target,&quot; Wagner said in some of his first comments since his surprising return to Chester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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