Who is Hugo Cuypers? Why the Fire's new DP is a perfect fit...

For a sum of around $14 million, the Chicago Fire has just secured the third most expensive transfer in MLS history. With already vast experience in European competitions, Belgian forward Hugo Cuypers, who has been excelling recently for Gent, will be an immediate starter at the number 9 position for Frank Klopas.

At 6-foot-1, Cuypers is a traditional center forward who excels in every position within the final third. He is imposing in the air, agile on the ground, and a clinical finisher making him a threat whenever he is on the field. Relying a lot on instinct when it comes to positioning, a lot of his goals have come through one of the hardest traits to have in soccer: the ability to predict where the ball is going to be.

Consistency is another big aspect of his game seen clearly last season when, during a 21-game period, he managed to score 25 goals with 6 assists totaling 10 more contributions than games played. This means that on six separate occasions, he scored two or more goals in one game including four direct goal contributions in a single game in the UEFA Europa Conference League. He has averaged 90 minutes per game in the last two years of his career once again solidifying and proving how consistent he is. With over 2.6 shots on target per game and averaging over 0.5 goals per game in his last two seasons as well, his numbers can only be compared with forwards of the highest caliber and at the peak of their careers.

In one of his most successful seasons numbers-wise (2022/23), out of 56 games there were only 25 in which he did not have a goal contribution. Tied for second all-time top goalscorer in the UEFA Europa Conference League with 16 goals and winning the Belgian Pro League Golden Boot last year, Cuypers is just entering his prime.

Hugo Cuypers was born in Liège, Belgium in 1997. He began his youth career playing for Excelsior Veldwezelt until the age of 15 when made a switch to the local club Visé. Following this, he represented Standard Liège for three years where he debuted professionally shortly before he was sent on loan in 2016 to play for Seraing in Belgium’s third division, Eerste Nationale. During this time, he was called up to Belgium’s U19 where he scored one goal in three appearances. After returning from Seraing, he was sold to Ergotelis in the Greek third division where he began to appear on the radar following a season with 22 goals in 28 games. The summer after turning 22, he was picked up by Greek first division side Olympiacos where he would play on loan for Ajaccio for a year before returning and winning the league with them in the 2020/21 season.

After a successful few years in Greece, Cuypers returned to Belgium to play for Mechelen in the Belgian Pro League. With 23 goal contributions in 36 games, he totaled 2,757 minutes for the club, the most for any team of his career until that point. After this very successful season, Gent took a chance on him in July of 2022 and signed him for a fee of $4 million. At Gent, he would adapt extremely quickly and, across two seasons, would total 51 goals and 15 assists in seven competitions.

Joining a Chicago Fire side struggling in the attack, Cuypers will be an immediate starter over Georgios Koutsias and Tom Barlow with Kacper Przybyłko’s status on the team still being unclear. Combinations with Xherdan Shaqiri and Brian Gutiérrez in the middle with the likes of Maren Haile-Selassie on the wing will be sure to cause problems for any defense in Major League Soccer. With his ability in the air, linking up with new signings such as Allan Arigoni who excels in crosses is one of many details to look forward to.

Cuypers is not known for racking up many assists, but anybody who has seen his passes will know just how precise and threatening they are when going forward. Not only is he exceptional at distributing the ball in the box, but he also plays inch-perfect through balls when picking up the ball around midfield. His first touch is of very high quality and his spatial awareness is even better making him dangerous in any situation where the ball is played to him. It will be important for him to adapt quickly to the slight difference between soccer in Europe and the U.S but, once he is, will be complicated to stop.

He has been very injury-free throughout his career missing a total of only 12 games with 9 of them being from a broken cheekbone sustained while playing for Mechelen. His only leg-related injury came towards the end of 2023 where he missed three games.

If his form of late carries on, he is going to be one of the most exciting players in MLS for the 2024 season.