Oct 1, 2016; Harrison, NJ, USA; New York Red Bulls midfielder Felipe Martins (8) and Philadelphia Union midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta (10) battle for the ball during second half at Red Bull Arena. The New York Red Bulls defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

New Philadelphia Union midfielder Kevin Kratz is finally in America, but will Kratz feature for the team before years end?

According to Twitter, Kevin Kratz has been training with the Philadelphia Union for almost two weeks now. He’s been getting acclimated with his teammates with the international break while also doing some exploration of Philadelphia. Yesterday, Kratz checked out the liberty bell as well as some other Philadelphia sights, we can only hope that he got a cheesesteak.

But more important for the Philadelphia Union is hoping that Kratz can contribute to the team now as they are entering a slide while the teams around them in the table heat up. The rise of DC United has pushed the Union down to the six seed in the Eastern Conference. While that doesn’t seem like much, when the team had a strong grasp on the fourth seed for most of the season falling to six is quite the slide.

With that seed would come a matchup with Toronto FC who have had the Philadelphia Union’s number this season. While the Union left BMO field with a tie in their last matchup it likely would have been a loss if Sebastian Giovinco wasn’t out with injury.

One of the issues plaguing the team is that they don’t really have a central midfielder that can come into a game if they want to change their gameplan. Maurice Edu was supposed to be that guy but with his recovery path so far it doesn’t seem too promising. If Brian Carroll come’s on that isn’t really changing the pace, instead it’s hopefully locking down a lead that the team has.

Enter Kevin Kratz, who has the ability to play everywhere in the midfield. Kratz had last played for 2 side, SV Sandhausen after beginning his career with Bayer Leverkusen. The 29-year-old midfielder has made 277 appearances in Germany split between the and the 2. During that time he has registered four goals and 13 assists.

He could come on for Fabian Herbers in the 70th minute instead of Ilsinho and let Alejandro Bedoya move to the right wing to create a more fluid attacking line. While that may seem a bit outlandish, in the draw against Toronto, Bedoya and Herbers both floated between the wing and CAM to make for a more fluid front three.

At this time of year, it’s good to have a new wrinkle that team’s need to gameplan for and the Union have that in Kratz. His ability to play as a box-to-box midfielder would allow Bedoya to play higher up the pitch which could help break down tougher defenses. He would already be but in a position to succeed by being next to a defensive stopper like Warren Crevalle as well.

Kratz isn’t fit enough to start a match yet but he could make an impact as a sub. As the team begins to stagnate he could offer just the spark that they need to reignite their playoff push.