Monterrey acquiring Fire’s Cuypers

Posted July 19, 2026 2:21 pm

By Tom Bogert and Paul Tenorio

CF Monterrey is finalizing a deal to sign MLS Golden Boot leader Hugo Cuypers from the Chicago Fire, sources briefed on the situation tell The Athletic.

The clubs agreed to a fee of $7.5 million plus another $500,000 in add-ons, sources add. Personal terms between Cuypers and Monterrey are agreed upon as well.

Cuypers, 29, leads MLS in goals with 13 this season in 989 minutes. The departure comes weeks after the Fire signed Poland legend Robert Lewandowski. The club initially insisted the pair could play together, and Cuypers had even given his No. 9 shirt to Lewandowski out of respect.

“Robert is one of the greatest No. 9’s ever, and it wouldn’t look right if he was playing with another number. It was an easy decision for me to give it to him and I really hope we can achieve a lot of things together on the pitch,” Cuypers said a few weeks ago.

Ultimately, Cuypers will leave the club without ever having shared the field with Lewandowski.

In addition to Monterrey, a number of MLS clubs pursued Cuypers, including St. Louis City, sources add.

Monterrey already spent big in MLS this summer, acquiring Uruguayan attacker Diego Rossi from the Columbus Crew. The 2026-27 Liga MX season kicked off this weekend, with Monterrey beating Santos Laguna 3-2 Saturday night.

Cuypers joined the Fire for a fee worth around $12 million ahead of the 2024 season. He scored 44 goals for the club in all competitions, 34 of which came over the last 18 months under head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter.

Before coming to MLS, Cuypers starred for Gent in Belgium, winning that league’s Golden Boot in 2022-23. His departure will leave Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and FC Dallas’s Petar Musa, with 12 goals apiece, as the league’s active leading scorers. His departure will also create a vacancy on MLS’s All-Star squad, which will face a team of stars from Liga MX in Charlotte on July 29.

The Fire sit third in the Eastern Conference, but their summer of transfer activity may not be done. The club continues to pursue German international midfielder Leon Goretzka, as first reported by The Athletic.