Berhalter: Franco Initiated Fire Move

The Chicago Fire finally made the loan move for FC Porto’s André Franco, marking the biggest moment of the summer transfer window so far. The Portuguese attacking midfielder adds another dimension to the Fire’s roster for the final stretch of the regular season.

Here’s the latest on Franco’s arrival and what could come next for Gregg Berhalter in the final week before deadline day.

Franco Wanted Fire Move

When news broke two weeks ago that the Fire were closing in on a move for Franco, it seemingly came out of left field. The 27-year-old was on the way out of Porto after two forgettable seasons with the club, but joins the Fire for the rest of the season on a short-term loan.

According to Berhalter, Franco himself initiated the interest, utilizing his connection to his former Sporting CP U-19 coach Filipe Çelikkaya, who is now the Fire’s top assistant.

“This is a player who contacted us,” Berhalter told media in his weekly press conference. “He reached out to [Filipe] and said, ‘Hey, I’d love to come to MLS and come to Chicago… I see what you guys are doing, I see what direction the club is heading in, and I’d love to be part of it.’”

“It’s not easy to get a player from Porto, especially under the conditions that we did, so we’re excited about it. We have a loan period for the rest of the season, and it’s a good opportunity for him to get acclimated and see what he can do in Major League Soccer. He’s a very technical player, smart soccer player, and we think he can help this group.”

While Franco was, admittedly, right at the bottom of Porto’s roster, the complicated conditions in question involve finance. The deal for Franco only made sense because he will filling the TAM roster slot vacated by Chris Mueller due to his placement on the Season-Ending Injury list, but that meant there were strict limitations on how much he could be paid.

In the end, the Fire are taking on his full salary for the rest of the season, but not paying a loan fee to Porto – something the Portuguese club was willing to accept as they looked to offload the player.

8-Match Sprint

Franco joins the Fire more than two-thirds of the way through the regular season, so for a short-term deal, he has very little time to get acclimated. At the time of publication, the midfielder had not yet arrived in Chicago, making his availability for a Saturday debut extremely unlikely.

When he does touch down in the United States, it will very much be a two-month sprint to the end of the regular season. Franco will have almost no time to gel with his teammates before he’s thrust into important matches down the stretch, and potentially playoff games in late October and early November.

“We have to take it one day at a time,” Berhalter said. “We know that he did miss preseason. The good news is that there was the Club World Cup, he had a couple of weeks off and ramped it up after that. So it will take him a while, but he’s an option for us, and it’s always good to have options, especially in midfield, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Berhalter’s hope is that even if he doesn’t hit the ground running right away in the next week or two, he can make a difference in the fall when the most important games of the season come around. He also joins the team in a roster slot that quite likely would not otherwise have been filled, making it a low-risk, high-reward signing.

More to Come?

There are seven days left in the MLS summer transfer window, which closes at midnight following August 21st. The final days of the window tend to be the busiest, and that has been especially true for the Fire in recent years, who have been incredibly active in the final hours for the last several seasons.

The Fire are not done making moves. They have one open senior roster slot, and will see some changes to the second team roster also announced in the coming days. Berhalter has suggested that his first team staff have been active and will likely have some things to announce before the window slams shut.

“We do expect there to be other moves,” Berhalter said. “That will be upcoming. Obviously we have a timeframe on that. You’ll know in due time.”

Earlier in the window, there were murmurs that the Fire might go for a center back to add more depth at the position. However, with Carlos Terán and Christopher Cupps both returning from long term injuries in recent week, that is no longer necessary, and attention has been focused elsewhere.

While plans can change, the Fire seem poised to stick with the “2+4+2” roster construction model, which would see them not sign a Designated Player in the final days of the window and instead receive an additional $1 million in General Allocation Money. That would not impact their ability to fill the final roster slot, it would just have to not be a DP. The Fire also do not have an open international roster slot, meaning any new signing would have to be an American citizen or U.S. Green Card holder (unless the Fire acquires another slot within the league).