Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth has confirmed that the club are interested in signing Bolton defender Zat Knight before the start of the new season. Knight, though, is not the only transfer target for the club according to Hackworth, as they have other potential names in the mix as well. Knight is an experienced defender, who at 6 foot six will provide a huge physical presence for Philadelphia at the back. The 33-year-old has represented only four clubs during his career. He has been with Bolton since 2009 after making the move from Aston Villa.
However, the club may consider letting him leave since they are one of the favourites to get relegated to the third division of English football. The presence of an England international like Knight will be detrimental to the finances of the club in League One. Knight has featured for the England national team on two occasions. The player will turn 34 years of age in May. Thus, Philadelphia will have the oldest player in their ranks if they signed the defender. Hackworth has revealed that the next few pre-season matches will decide whether they bring in Knight or not.
After finishing seventh in the table last season, Philadelphia will be hoping for a much better campaign in 2014. They begin the new season with a match against Portland Timbers.
“Truthfully, we have been in some conversations [with Knight]. But at the same time, we are looking at a lot of different countries and have vetted out many different center back options. I would think it depends on how these next couple of games go and where we are. He’s certainly one of the guys we’re still considering. We still think we need to add a potential center back to our roster. However, it’s been a good battle with players playing well at center back so far,” Hackworth said.