'04 Gabriel Slonina is the early top goalkeeper for the US U15s -- the only one called to all four U15 camps so far. At club level, he is playing up with the Chicago Fire U16/U17 side as a starter, following in the footsteps of another highly rated YNT keeper, Damian Las. Slonina's agency says he has interest from multiple European clubs and may head abroad in the coming months. He appears to have a Polish passport. His agency: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrojTHQHVdt/ DA profile: http://chic.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=1655309&player=79847141 In this interview, he says his parents are Polish and that he does not really want to play in MLS: http://mlodziezowyfutbol.pl/artykuly/wywiady/gabriel-slonina-chicag-fire/
NEWS | The Club has signed @ChiFireAcademy product Gabriel Slonina. Welcome, Gabriel!📝: https://t.co/IEl68FDHR1 #cf97 pic.twitter.com/rdUVLiBNDA— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) March 8, 2019
Interest from Juventus: Tuttosport⬇️La #Juventus sul giovane portiere americano #Slonina: classe 2004 e titolare dei Chicago Fire in #MLS. Dovrebbe arrivare a Giugno e far parte dell'U23👶👐— Giacomo Scutiero (@SCUtweet) December 23, 2021 He turns 18 in May 2022, but wouldn't need to wait as he does have a Polish passport. (Oh, and he did end up playing in MLS with 11 starts in goal as a 17 year old).
He's under contract with the Fire through the end of 2022 with an option for 2023. Barring any other signings (and the Fire have 3 GK right now), he'll be the starter this season, so I don't really see him moving yet. But he's a teenager starting in a relatively good league, and he seems like a real talent, so I expect to hear a lot of rumors like this over the next 12 months.
I think a 17 year old goalkeeper with a starting first team job needs to think long and hard about giving that up. That's extremely rare. He's in a great spot right now for his age and position. I mean, the guy could move to Europe after the 2026 World Cup and still be just 2 months beyond his 22nd birthday.
Exactly. I'm usually pretty agnostic on the "should he stay or should he go" question because hey, it ain't my life. If he is set to be the starter at this age in a decent league, he needs to stay for his career development. This isn't a Steffen situation where he gets paid a ton of money and plays 10 times a year.
Rumor of Manchester United interest (which doesn't really make sense unless he wants to be loaned out for a while) to go with the Juventus interest: https://www.juventusnews24.com/calciomercato-juve-bianconeri-nuovo-oblak-affondo-ultime-notizie/
I don't think so. He gets no points for NT caps. No points for continental competitions. MLS is a Tier 4 league and he played in 11 matches out of 34. That wouldn't earn him any points. No points for club position in the table. He gets 6 points because MLS is a Tier 4 league. He needs 15 points for a permit. I don't see any way to a WP.
Reports of La Liga, Serie A & Bundesliga interest: https://www.90min.com/posts/gabriel-slonina-attracting-interest-serie-a-bundesliga-la-liga-transfers
MLS to European leagues transfers now hotting up. After Paredes set to join Wolfsburg and talks still on for Turner to Arsenal, next one to move in the next days could be talented goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina. 🇺🇸 #MLSThere’s interest from Premier League clubs. Price tag €10m. pic.twitter.com/EqCy59lYxh— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 26, 2022 10 mil is insane for a 17 y/o GK. If this is accurate the Fire would be crazy not to accept it given the fact they have Brady in the wings already
Google Brexit I’m not a historian of transfer fees, but that would have to be among the very most expensive transfers ever for a teenage goalkeeper. It really is insane.
Remember when MLS rejected lowball offers? Their transfer process frankly is paying off. The valuations for many MLS players IMO doesn’t match the relative value at times. But mls has financial might (don’t need to sell) so they have fantastic leverage. plus the players have ton of upside and we are producing real talents. Just saying the valuations have been crazy to see at times.
Yep, it’s an era we haven’t seen before for the U.S. We’re producing a lot of talent that is wanted by Europe, MLS is making money, MLS is paying American players pretty well now and that will continue to increase, and now they’re starting to make lots of money on transfer fees. MLS is the richest ownership group in the world top to bottom, and clubs can’t lowball them anymore. A club in Salt Lake just got purchased by two billionaires. Hell, just 5 years ago Pepi probably would’ve gone for like $5m plus some add-ons.
Deal looking unlikely: Sources: Chicago Fire are yet to receive an official bid for 17-year-old wonderkid GK Gabriel Slonina as multiple Premier League clubs (among others) have interest.If a deal happens today before the deadline, it'd have to be a big bid + loan back to Chicago. Summer more likely. https://t.co/N8pX6ZitB0— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 31, 2022
Fabrizio says Chelsea was ready to buy him & loan back to Chicago, but the sanctions sank that ship: https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...chicago-fires-teenage-keeper-gabriel-slonina/ Before Chelsea were blocked by the sanctions the Blues' plan was clear: find an agreement to sign Slonina in the 2022 summer window for a figure close to €6.5-7 million, then loan him out again to Chicago Fire until June or December 2023. That way Chelsea would own the bright young keeper but they'd also give Slonina an opportunity to play as a starter and grow in MLS before trying the Premier League experience.