Chicago Fire FC are due for a final-third boost with the arrival of Jairo Torres on May 1, as their Young Designated Player officially joins from Liga MX side Atlas FC.
But the club is working on additional reinforcements beyond the Mexican winger, head coach Ezra Hendrickson said, especially out wide.
And there’s a clear positional profile in mind as Torres completes what will become a DP trio alongside Paraguayan international Gaston Gimenez in a deep-lying midfield spot and Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri in the No. 10 role.
“I think we definitely need some pace on the wings,” Hendrickson said in a Tuesday media availability. “For two things: We need to be able to get behind defenses off the ball, stretch defenses, and that would help give Shaq and Gaston and Jairo when he comes, guys like that, more spaces to work underneath. Because as is, I think teams are – the back four know the player they can keep in front of them, and it's a little easy to shut a team down when you know there's no real threat to get behind.
“We've been working on different scenarios with the players that we have right now, but I think adding some pace on the wings would help just stretch the defense a little bit to give us more room to operate in the front half like we like to do as a team.”
For as stingy defensively as Chicago have been for most of the 2022 season, their five goals scored are the lowest total league-wide. They’ve been shut out in four straight matches, and half of their eight games have been scoreless ties.
Time could be of the essence, with MLS’s Primary Transfer Window remaining open through May 4. The Secondary Transfer Window then opens from July 7 and carries through Aug. 4.
“We're trying to get a couple of situations across the timeline,” said Hendrickson, who joined in the offseason after being a Columbus Crew assistant coach. “But it's such a crunch moment, I'm not sure if we're going to be able to or not, but definitely trying to get a couple other pieces to help fill out the roster because, as you know, we have room to make some move.”
Aside from Shaqiri and Torres, Chicago invested elsewhere in the final third this offseason. They acquired striker Kacper Przybylko in a trade from the Philadelphia Union, and highly-rated Colombian youth international Jhon Duran arrived as well from Envigado.
Now, it’s about finding an attacking spark that’s proved elusive before a busy month arrives. They’re targeting Torres’ debut for the May 7 visit to Atlanta United.
“Hopefully we can get him on the pitch in time for Atlanta next weekend because he's the type of player that can help some of those offensive woes that we're having,” Hendrickson said. “His individual ability can really, really help us. We hopefully can get all of his paperwork and all the legal stuff done in time for the ATL game.”
