The internet wants TLB in Europe immediately. Even naming destinations. I wonder if the phone is really ringing. 20M$ ??
Guaranteed. Hoping PapaJoe and GGG hold onto him for the rest of this season and the 2027 sprint, sell him July 2027. That lets him win 2 MLS Cups with us before he starts his next chapter Bonus: Mbo and Puso get a valuable year of Chicago life experience together.
I know his words were posted somewhere recently, but the video interview better displays Hugo’s lovely demeanor… Hear more from Hugo about Lewandowski wearing the 9️⃣ and what he's looking towards in the second half of the season 👇 pic.twitter.com/wuolK8uM2N— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) July 1, 2026 I often commented about Hugo’s workrate setting the bar/expectation, but this is on top of that. What a professional! Here here!
Per @Emishor, the Chicago Fire are reportedly interested in defensive midfielder Anzor Mekvabishvili from Universitatea Craiova #cf97 pic.twitter.com/qtAAPVi18Y— Colin (@ufcolin) July 5, 2026 The agent representing South Africa international defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi confirms ‘there is strong interest from Napoli’ for the Chicago Fire player.#Napoli #ChicagoFire #SerieA #MLS #SouthAfrica #CF97 pic.twitter.com/buhOnR6lEv— Football Italia (@footballitalia) July 4, 2026 On one hand, signing/keeping Waterman...a presumable starter on most teams...seems in prep for Mbo being here for a short period. On the other hand, we not only brought Puso here as well to make things 'healthy' for both of them, we have Mbo signed through 2029 w option for 29/30!!! It's not likely his value/demand will go down, so the only motivation to sell now is the cash and roster spot to add someone like a Goretzka. That said, Mbo may be an example of maximizing the value of the U22 tag!!! Seriously, he only hits the salary cap for $200k and will increase in value during his time here. I'd love to keep him and make him a featured part of the team as we open the new stadium.
Mekvabishvili is 13 letters Zinckernagel is only 12. I'm pretty sure this seals the deal on who gets my custom jersey $$$ if it happens.
His physical capabilities are exceptional and he has a number of good personalty traits. No doubt he already has a lot of value. But there are a lot of things he could learn/improve during a 2 year stint with the Fire- from coaches, teammates and just playing in MLS. Not given much credit but MLS teaches players some valuable lessons not taught in other leagues.
Been quiet on the Goretzka front....haven't seen any news on his club situation at all but I'm guessing it's probably dead no?! Do we think we still go for anyone else? Also I know some green cards coming around apparently but do we have to make any other moves for Lewandowski then?
Around mid-June there were several seemingly reliable reports that Goretzka was going to exhaust all European possibilities before considering MLS. He apparently believes he is too good for MLS at this time. Recently there was a report he was demanding a three year contract with 12 million euros annual salary plus a 10 million euro signing bonus. Of course, no idea how much, if any, of this is true and how much is agent baloney. Re: Lewandowski.-1) An international spot is one item. 2) currently have 4 U22s. Would need to untag one of them. The estimated “cost” of untagging the U22 would be in the $600k to $800k area which presumably would be supplied by the $1,000,000 GAM listed on earlier roster report. 3) As usual, there are various paperwork and Visa items to complete, which should not take long.
For the hell of it I thought I'd tune in to the Red Stars game tonight. It happens to be on the NWSL+ stream and you have to set up an account with email. Screw it, they really make it hard to care. I'll switch between the Cubs & Sox & maybe look for a USL game. Of course the wife will want to watch the local news magazine shows from WGN, Fox32, and WTTW with a side dose of Democracy Now! (not tonight dear)
Not that it really matters prediction: expecting to hear some Fire transfer rumors next week. Just because.
Not super clear how much wiggle room with compliance is there….seems like all the way to Oct 9 Secondary Transfer Window: Opened on July 13 and runs through September 2. This extended window is designed to align better with European leagues. Roster Freeze Date: Scheduled for Friday, October 9, roughly one month before Decision Day.
There is a roster compliance date for start of season but have never seen one for mud-season. This could mean that part of the league paperwork connected with any mid-season action ( acquisition, loan expiration, removal from injured list, sale?, etc) would involve satisfying all roster and salary budget charge requirements. My best guess. I have ceased mentioning roster spot concerns because every time I do I am immediately told that is not really a problem. However, there are potential roster spot problems with the acquisition of Lewy, the return of Franco and any possible future acquisitions. Just an alert.
Agreed, Franco and Lewy can not be added without other changes… Expecting a flurry of action that may include loans, buyouts, sell/transfer, and such. Feels like Bamba, a U22 and Oregel are all candidates…and Franco too (just not being rostered at all, or somehow late September).
For those asking: the Chicago Fire have switched to a 3 DP / 3 U-22 model for the rest of the season, with Puso Dithejane no longer counted as a U-22 Initiative player. 🇿🇦Bamba, Cuypers, and Lewandowski are the DPs. D'Avilla, Mbokazi, and Radojević are the U-22s. https://t.co/tbD9h0pHKK pic.twitter.com/nOq3n2pIQ0— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) July 13, 2026
Glad to see Fire are roster compliant per Alex C / MIR97. Regarding roster spots, this would seem to confirm that Glasgow does not count against the roster limit because of his loan status. ( Always tricky when dealing with loans regarding roster slots and impact on salary budget.) Adding Lewy and returning Franco to active status would appear to put Fire at the Senior Roster limit of 20. There was no mention in posting how Fire solved the international slot problem. Presumably the answer is that player(s) obtained their green card. It would be nice to have this confirmed and learn which players obtained cards. Another ( less likely?) possibility would be the costly purchase of a slot from another team.
I thought someone on these boards once mentioned that now a player just has to be a significant or some percentage of the way through the green card process for it to be accepted for roster compliance purposes.
Something was posted, not sure how it worked or if it was accurate . My recollection is that it stated if the final interview ( in the US) for a green card was scheduled to be completed before July 1, a player was provisionally allowed to start the season. Not sure if I got this right and, as usual, not sure if this a general rule or a “special rule”. MLS Rules!
Pondering formations for 2 strikers, knowing Franco will not be ‘full speed’ for a bit… note, this last one would be more of a 3-4-1-2 with the 10 (typically) playing higher than the graphic shows. And I was torn with what to do with Bamba/MHS/Davilla, but with TLB back there I lean towards the 2 more attack minded of the 3, and Waterman can ‘step up’ at times to act a bit like a deep lying CDM Which do yall like the most? Other?