What Lewandowski brings to the Chicago Fire

With years of mediocrity behind them, the Chicago Fire’s outlook is finally looking up after adding a big name to the squad.

Robert Lewandowski, who signed with the Fire as a free agent after his contract with LaLiga powerhouse FC Barcelona expired, arrived in Chicago and went through his first training session Tuesday. The Fire host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday at Soldier Field.

“I’m very happy to join the Chicago Fire. I’m very happy because it’s a new step in my career and my life,” Lewandowski said at his introductory news conference Tuesday.

Lewandowski will take one Designated Player slot and the team’s last international spot. The club's other two Designated Players are Jonathan Bamba and Hugo Cuypers.

At 37, Lewandowski has shown no signs of slowing down. In the 2025-26 LaLiga season, he scored 14 goals in 63 attempts for Barcelona. During World Cup qualifying cycles this year, he led Poland with five goals in nine matches, though the national team failed to secure a berth.

After clinching a playoff berth last year for the first time since 2017, the Fire started this season strong at 8-2-4, ranking third in the MLS standings behind Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC. Adding Lewandowski to the squad is an immediate boost.

“We are in a good position, but of course we have to work hard, and I hope so that we can enjoy after the season what we achieve,” Lewandowski said.

Lewandowski said he had communicated with Fire coach Gregg Berhalter about how he fit into the team’s system.

“Tactics is not a problem to me,” Lewandowski said. “I’m in the place that I know how to play.”

Lewandowski could address a specific problem for Chicago. The Fire have attempted 208 shots this season but have put only 73 on target — a 35.3% rate that ranks 24th among 30 MLS teams, according to FBref. Lewandowski would be a natural fit to help improve the team’s finishing, with the instincts to turn more of those chances into results inside the box.

How Berhalter deploys him will be important. With Cuypers leading the team with 13 goals this season, a two-striker formation featuring both players is a possibility.

“We don't see any reason why that can't continue with Hugo and Robert together,” Berhalter said. “They're both high-quality players. We're actually really excited about this possibility, and we think that it can be a great combination.”

The aerial duel is another dimension Chicago expects to upgrade. At 6-foot-1, Lewandowski has scored roughly one in seven of his 700-plus career goals with his head, including three header goals for Poland during World Cup qualifying. The Fire have crossed the ball 193 times this season at a 28.5% accuracy rate but converted only three of those deliveries into headed goals this year.

Off the field, Lewandowski’s presence might prove as significant as other MLS superstars. When Lionel Messi arrived at Inter Miami in 2023, the signing reshaped the franchise overnight. Lewandowski's arrival could carry a similar momentum for the Fire after he won a UEFA Champions League title, 10 Bundesliga championships with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, and three LaLiga titles with Barcelona.

“The players get to play with (Lewandowski) at the absolute highest level for over a decade and a half, and you don’t get that every day,” Berhalter said of the effect. “We hope that permeates throughout the entire club, the academy kids when they’re walking by the training field, and they get to see his work that something rubs off on them. ”

For Lewandowski, the goal is always straight and ambitious.

“When I start today, in front of me is to win some titles,” he said.