Two weeks to go: Chicago Fire roster update, plans in summer window

At the midpoint of the four-week summer transfer window – the last time that teams in MLS can make substantial changes to their rosters – here’s the moves the Chicago Fire have made, and what their plans might be in the final two weeks.

Initial moves create roster, cap flexibility

Just ahead of the window’s opening, the Fire announced that Chris Mueller was being placed on the season-ending injury (SEI) list as a result of his ongoing battle against pericarditis. The move freed Mueller’s roster spot and enables the team to sign a replacement player, up to an equivalent salary cap hit.

According to data released by the MLS Players Association, Mueller is due to earn $762,316 this season, meaning that is the budget (on an annual basis) that the Fire have to find a replacement player. (Although a player’s wages are not the same as their cap hit, in the case of Mueller, whose acquisition costs came in the form of allocation money sent to Orlando in 2023 and 2024, the numbers should be relatively close.)

Notably, however, putting a player on the SEI list does boost a team’s available cap space directly. Instead, it enables the team to sign a replacement player, at any position, up to that player’s budget charge. As a result, the Fire have a hard ceiling that they can offer for the services of a replacement player this year, but they also gained a second roster spot.

On Thursday, in a move previously reported by MIR97 Media, the team has announced that Omari Glasgow is leaving for Loudon United of the USL Championship on loan. Although nominally a winger, Glasgow had proved useful in Gregg Berhalter’s lineup as an option at wingback earlier in the season. With Leonardo Barroso healthy and minutes at right-back split increasingly between the Portuguese U22 Initiative player and Jonathan Dean, however, playing time had largely dried up for the Guyanese attacker.

A loan to the second-tier USL Championship gives the 21-year-old Glasgow a chance at regular minutes at a notably higher level than third-tier MLS Next Pro, while also opening up an international slot on the Fire’s roster.

Current state of the Fire roster

Because of the terms of Glasgow’s loan, his space on the team’s supplemental roster has been effectively vacated for the season. That leaves the Fire able to sign a player to the supplemental roster, which does not count against the cap but which has a strict limit on the amount the player can be paid.

Still, it is the international slot that is probably most valuable to the Fire: Although slots can be traded between teams, the Fire have a limited supply of General Allocation Money (GAM), the typical currency for such moves.

The Fire now have two senior roster slots, one supplemental roster slot available with Glasgow on loan, and an international roster slot available for additions.

Midfielder Franco Fire’s next target

As initially reported by Tom Bogert at GiveMeSport and soon confirmed with additional details by MIR97 Media, the Fire are very near a deal to sign midfielder André Franco on loan from FC Porto in Portugal’s top flight. Developed in Sporting CP’s academy, Franco broke through with fellow Primeira Liga side Estoril in the 2021-2022 season, paving the way for a reported €4 move to Porto.

In three years with the Portuguese giant, however, Franco has struggled to find consistent playing time. Last season, he had just 462 minutes and all but one of his four starts were against teams in the league’s basement. A loan to the Fire would give Franco an opportunity for regular minutes and a look outside of his native Portugal for the first time other than in continental and international competition with Porto.

He would effectively be the roster replacement for Chris Mueller for the season. The Fire’s option to make the move permanent at a valuation that would not force Franco to occupy a coveted Designated Player slot makes the move a smart value on a player with a high potential upside.

Franco is, however, notably less of a splash signing than Patrick Berg, who had also been linked with the Fire but where talks were called off after Chicago refused to meet Bodø/Glimpt’s valuation.

Sources tell MIR97 Media that the deal is in its final stages. Although nothing is certain until it’s official, expect Franco to join the Fire for the team’s run down the stretch.

The move will give the team nine midfielders, including loanee Rominigue Kouamé and Kellyn Acosta, both of whom have struggled to get consistent minutes this season.

Fire have option to add a third DP – but aren’t “going to act in a desperate way”

Teams in Major League Soccer can choose from one of two options in their roster construction:  They can elect to have three Designated Player (DPs) with unlimited salary but fixed cap hit and three U22 Initiative players for young, high-potential talent, or two DPs, four U22s and $2 million in General Allocation Money, an accounting mechanism that lets teams essentially spend above the league’s nominal salary cap.

Although the Fire attempted to land Neymar Jr. in the winter, the Brazilian superstar ultimately chose to return to his boyhood club and the Fire ultimately chose the roster construction model with 2 DPs, taking half of the $2 million in GAM in the winter window.

With just three U22 players under contract in Djé D’Avilla, Barroso and Brian Gutiérrez, the Fire could still add a third DP this window. If they do, the Fire would have an ability to bring in a high-end player, whether that comes in the form of an established superstar like Kevin de Bruyne or a somewhat lower-profile player that that the team’s scouting and analytics departments believe can be a game-changer for the team, as was the case with Patrick Berg.

Even though the team didn’t land either player, Berhalter indicated he intends to stay the course on the team’s transfer philosophy. “You know, in some cases, it’s a lifestyle choice or a choice to stay in European leagues,” the Fire head coach said, in an apparent reference to de Bruyne, who ultimately moved to Napoli, a team playing UEFA Champions League football in the upcoming season and a city where he and his wife already owned a home.

In an likely reference to Berg, Berhalter said “In other cases, it’s, we weren’t willing to pay the asking price because we see a certain value in players, and, you know, we’re not going to act in a desperate way. We’re going to get players that we think can help us, and that make sense.” Although the interest in Berg was genuine, the Fire believe their offer was fair and were unwilling to meet the sky-high transfer fee sought by Bodø/Glimpt.

Although Berg had a profile that suggests he could be a highly productive player in MLS and, at 27 years old, is still on the early side of his prime, he wouldn’t come with the kind of marketing boost that de Bruyne – let alone Neymar – would have, and as a more defense-oriented midfielder, he plays in a position that often goes unnoticed by casual fans for long stretches of the match, somewhat limiting the potential marketing upside.

Advantages to staying on current roster construction path

While superstar players - like Bayern legend Thomas Müller, who just signed with Vancouver, or Son Heung-min, recently unveiled by Los Angeles FC, are more likely to be available – and move – in the summer, the number of top names in the sport willing to relocate to North America in any given summer is limited.

The number shrinks even further when considering players younger than Müller, turning 36 next month. That’s likely to be a significant consideration for the Fire, who are building themselves to be a long-term contender in coming seasons, unlike the Whitecaps and Los Angeles FC, both of whom are in “win-now” mode.

Sources have told MIR97 Media that the team has been active in recruiting high-end talent to the team, using both the newly opened training facility as well as the prospect of being a face of the team when they open their planned new stadium in 2028, as part of the pitch. However, with many players hesitant to move from existing club situations – often in top leagues in Europe – with the 2026 World Cup just months away, many top targets are more moves for next summer than possibilities for this one.

There are advantages to sticking with two DPs the rest of the year, however. “There’s some nuances to it, you know, if we choose not to add a DP in this year, we get the GAM which we could apply to a transfer fee,” Berhalter said when asked about the team’s transfer strategy this window, “and potentially land someone for the long term who would help the club more, with only 10 games left in the season. Whereas, the DP, if you add them now, by the time you get papers and immigration clearance, if it’s a foreigner, you’re talking about maybe eight or seven games left in the season.”

The $1 million in GAM the team would receive if they do stay on their current course could be used to trade for an established talent in the league, who would be available to start for the Fire in a matter of days, not weeks. Players already in MLS are also much less likely to require an international slot, with the one recently freed by Omari Glasgow very likely to be taken by Franco in the coming days.