According to several reports on Thursday, 10-year Premier League star Kevin De Bruin is set to join the Chicago Fire.
The 33-year-old Belgian scored 189 goals in 10 seasons for four-time defending champion Manchester City. De Bruyne recently announced that he would leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Kevin de Bruin ignores English reporters after a shocking defeat to Belgian Slovakia.
Chicago Fire is desperate to sign Kevin De Bruin
Fire, experiencing a bad run in form, has the top priority to sign De Bruyne. DC United and NYCFC were two other teams asking about the midfielder. Intermiami CF previously negotiated with Debruin, but three designated player spots, including Lionel Messi, have already been filled.
The Belgian captain prefers to go to MLS rather than signing a contract to play for Saudi Arabia. Additionally, he did not rule out returning to the Premier League or competing in Europe as his next adventure.
“I’m open to everything because I have to look at the big picture,” De Bruin said. “I think about the sports side, the family, everything, what makes the most sense to me and my family. I don’t know what that is because when you talk to people, and what they say about the project and similar things.
Ten games later, Chicago has a 3-3-4 record with 12 points and will sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference under the direction of former US team coach Greg Barhalter. De Bruyne joins compatriot Hugo Cuypers, who is tied to the MLS lead with seven goals, giving the team a dynamic offensive presence.
“In an ideal world, I think you could invest in your entire team and say, ‘OK, you can bring world-class players to any position,’ but that’s not perfect,” Berhalter said. “There’s a salary cap and a limited number of franchise players, so I think the wise thing to do is sign off on the offensive players.”
The fire has reached the playoffs only once in the last 12 seasons (2017).
