It’s been a busy week for the Chicago Fire. The team faced quite a bit of question marks following their 4-0 defeat against the New York Red Bulls in the MLS playoffs. One of those question marks have finally been answered.
The Fire announced that the team had reached a deal to bring back former-Germany international, Bastian Schweinsteiger signed a new one-year contract with the Fire and will once again be one of the team’s Designated Players.
The ex-Bayern Munich and Manchester United player joined the Fire back in March of 2017. He made a total of 24 regular season appearances, scoring three times and providing six assists. He proved to be a pivotal member in the team’s run to the playoffs and they weren’t as sharp or efficient without the German.
Off the field, the Fire, along with the rest of MLS, were present in the MLS Superdraft that took place on January 10th through the 14th. Initially, the Fire had the 15th pick in the draft but traded keeper Matt Lampson and allocation money to Minnesota United to move up to 5th. They traded some more allocation money to Real Salt Lake to acquire the 10th overall pick.
With the 5th pick, the Fire selected Wake Forest University striker, Jon Bakero. With their 10th pick, they selected Syracuse midfielder, Mo Adams. Both players have some European background to go along with their collegiate experience.
Mo Adams started his career at a young age in England with Nottingham Forest and Derby Country before going to Syracuse in 2016.
Jon Bakero also comes with some pedigree. The Wake Forest product led his collegiate side with 16 goals in 23 appearances.
The Spanish striker is the son of former Barcelona player, Jose Mari Bakero. Jose Mari played for the vaunted “Dream Team” under the guidance of Johan Cruyff who won the European Cup in 1992 against Italian side, Sampdoria.
However, Nelson Rodriguez, the Fire general manager, wasn’t done making moves. The Fire announced that they were trading forward, David Accam, to the Philadelphia Union for $1.2 million in targeted and general allocation money.
Accam had a breakout year last season scoring 14 goals while providing 8 assists. Both were career-highs. Accam formed a strong partnership with Golden Boot winner, Nemanja Nikolic.
The Fire added defender Rafael Ramos from Orlando City SC. Along with Ramos, the Fire also received $100,000 in allocation money, $50,000 in 2018 and 2019.
In exchange, the Fire sent the rights to homegrown player, Cameron Lindley, to Orlando. The Portuguese defender joined Orlando in 2015 where he made 39 appearances providing a total of five assists.
To cap off a busy week for the club, on the final days of the draft, they made three more selections. The club drafted Clemson forward Diego Campos in the second round. In the final round, they drafted University of California (Berkeley) defender, Josh Morton as well as some local talent in Loyola University forward, Elliot Collier.
Morton scored two goals and had one assist in 48 appearances his collegiate career at Berkeley. On the other hand, the Loyola product, Collier, scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in 69 appearances with the Ramblers.
All in all , it was a newsworthy draft with Nelson Rodriguez adding depth in all the lines. He added some interesting pieces via the draft along with a defender with some experience in the league. It’s something that should encourage Fire fans as the team isn’t standing pat after their disappointing end in the playoffs. It also doesn’t appear the the team is done in making moves and may look outside the league for potential reinforcement for the men in red.
Ernesto Hernandez
Sports Editor
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