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Chicago Fire adds depth, cash at SuperDraft

Three players and a big wad of funny money was the Chicago Fire's haul from Friday's MLS SuperDraft.

First general manager Nelson Rodriguez traded the No. 3 overall pick to New York City FC for $250,000 in general allocation money.

At No. 11 overall the Fire opted not to trade again, picking midfielder Daniel Johnson out of the University of Louisville. He is expected to play a wide midfield role for the Fire.

"I call him a soccer junkie," Rodriguez said of Johnson, who spent a few years in England in West Ham United's youth program. "This young man loves the sport. He lives it. He wants a soccer lifestyle."

Then the Fire traded $75,000 in targeted allocation money to Toronto FC for two second-round picks. With those picks the Fire went back to Louisville for goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland, then drafted Delaware forward Guillermo Delgado.

"What we believe is this is a very good player, a player who is dynamic off the ball, knows how to find space and how to exploit it," Rodriguez said of the speedy Delgado, a Spaniard who will occupy an international roster slot. "A proven finisher and has a good pedigree."

If Delgado makes the roster, that will give the Fire nine international players, but the club has just eight international roster slots for now. The team could acquire another international roster slot by trade.

Cleveland likely will be mentored by the Fire's most recent signee, 35-year-old Uruguayan goalkeeper Jorge Bava, but probably will serve as the team's third goalkeeper behind Bava and Matt Lampson.

The Fire remains on the hunt to sign an international central midfielder. The club is known to be negotiating for Bastian Schweinsteiger and Andres Guardado, though talks have stalled. The GAM acquired for the No. 3 pick could be used to help sign one of those players, Rodriguez said.

The team did not pick any defenders, an area where there remains a need for a right back plus depth.

The draft continues Tuesday with Rounds 3 and 4.

Good move:

Friday started a new era in transparency for MLS. It was the first time the league has made public amounts of general allocation money and targeted allocation money involved in trades.

GAM and TAM are league inventions to help teams build their rosters around the league salary cap.

The Fire began announcing the lengths of player contracts last season, another important step toward transparency, and the club deserves credit for doing so.

The next step is making public the salary of players for salary-cap purposes.

Tough loss:

Longtime Fire player and captain Logan Pause, who also served in the club's front office and most recently as an assistant coach, left the Fire on Thursday to coach the Orange County Blues in the USL. OC Blues are affiliated with 2018 MLS expansion club Los Angeles FC, which is being run by Pause's friend and former Fire teammate John Thorrington.

Following the departure of former Fire defender Gonzalo Segares from the Fire Academy last summer, the Fire now has no former players working for the club with the exception of Academy coach Pascal Bedrossian, who played only briefly for Chicago.

The Fire also has no players on its current roster who have played more than two seasons with the club after December's trade of seven-year veteran Sean Johnson.

For a team that likes to tout its tradition, Pause's departure is yet another reminder that the Fire in fact has lost its sense of tradition.

The Chicago Fire drafted University of Louisville midfielder Daniel Johnson with the No. 11 overall pick in Friday's SuperDraft. Photo courtesy of Major League Soccer
The Chicago Fire drafted University of Louisville midfielder Daniel Johnson with the No. 11 overall pick in Friday's SuperDraft. Photo courtesy of Major League Soccer
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