The addition of striker Nemanja Nikolic as the Chicago Fire’s newest designated player was a big move for the Fire, but it was just the beginning of another overhaul of the roster.
After adding Nikolic the club has 17 players currently under contract. He joins Michael de Leeuw, David Accam and David Arshakyan as the team’s forwards.
Accam is a speedster while Arshakyan is a big target at 6-foot-4. Nikolic may be more in the de Leeuw mold of a noted finisher. How those two can play together appears to be one of the keys for the Fire in 2017.
“We actually think that they will be extremely complementary,” GM Nelson Rodriguez said of Nikolic and de Leeuw. “Time will tell. Michael is a very active and busy player who prefers to play underneath another forward. Nemanja does his best work in the box, but having said that is also very mobile with a very high workrate. Nemanja is comfortable playing alone or playing in tandem with another forward and so we think that that versatility will lend itself not only to Michael, but with our other returning attacking assets.”
So with Nikolic now in the fold, the Fire’s attacking group is arguably the most finished of the club’s four lines. Luis Solignac could still be brought back after he was protected from the expansion draft despite the fact that his option was declined by the Fire, which was likely a signal of intent of the club to try to bring him back at a lower cost than his option would have been.
Rodriguez, who was speaking over the phone while in Poland to finalize Nikolic’s contract, said the focus of the rest of the offseason will be to add some experience in central midfield. The Fire were last in Major League Soccer in shots on target in 2016 and last in possession, both of which point to problems in the midfield.
“We have three primary (midfield) targets,” Rodriguez said. “We believe we are making progress against at least two of those. We are working aggressively to close whichever one we can first.”
The Fire have been linked to German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, but he is under contract with Manchester United so Rodriguez declined to comment about a player under contract with another club.
There are just one goalkeeper and six defenders under contract with the Fire so bodies will need to be added in both of those lines as well. Possible homegrown signings and the MLS SuperDraft in January could bolster the roster with some young players.
In addition, Rodriguez said team's have inquired about trading for the Fire's top pick in the second stage of the re-entry draft, which takes place on Thursday.
“We have not yet made a final decision as to whether we will look to select a player or not and we are also examining some offers that we have received for the No. 1 second stage re-entry position,” Rodriguez said. “Obviously we admittedly put that on hold the last 24 hours... We are active on conversations with players within MLS currently.”