Chicago Fire trade for Ari Lassiter
The Chicago Fire have traded for CF Montréal's Ari Lassiter, the club confirmed this afternoon. The trade comes six hours after the club confirmed the departure of Designated Player Xherdan Shaqiri, freeing up a senior roster slot.
In exchange for Lassiter, the Fire sent $75,000 in General Allocation Money to Montréal. That figure could rise by an additional $75,000 should certain lofty performance-based incentives be met by the end of this season. He will not take up an international slot, and his contract will run through the end of this season.
“Going into the final stretch of the regular season, we wanted to add a versatile player with MLS experience to strengthen our playoff push,” said Chicago Fire FC Sporting Director Georg Heitz. “Ariel will bring more competition and flexibility to the team, as he can play multiple positions. We look forward to welcoming him to the club in the coming days.”
Lassiter, 29, has played in MLS since 2019, most recently making 56 times for Montréal between 2023 and 2024. He appeared in this year's Copa América, representing Costa Rica as they were eliminated in the group stage. He is also the son of former D.C. United and U.S. Men's National Team forward Roy Lassiter.
The move grants the Fire further flexibility for the final stretch of the season at the left wing back position; starter Andrew Gutman recently returned from injury, but with backup Chase Gasper still out, finding cover in that area was a priority going up against the trade deadline.
"It's good to get Gutman back, but without Chase, we only have one left-footed player there," head coach Frank Klopas toldMIR97 Media
at Bridgeview today."If you can get possibly someone on that side that can be a win, it could be a wing back that can play in that same role because we need cover."
Lassiter is currently on vacation – he was granted a break by Montréal following a busy summer with participation in Copa América and Leagues Cups – but is expected to report in Chicago by the end of the week.
