Chicago Fire makes roster moves

The Chicago Fire announced Monday it has declined 2019 contract options on seven players, including homegrown midfielder Drew Conner of Cary.

Also having their contract options declined were Michael de Leeuw, Patrick McLain, Luis Solignac, Yura Movsisyan and former first-round SuperDraft picks Daniel Johnson and Jonathan Campbell.

The Fire did pick up the options on six players: Brandt Bronico, Diego Campos, Stefan Cleveland, Jorge Corrales, Raheem Edwards and Nicolas Hasler. The Fire announced Sunday that it picked up the option on 2018 third-round draft pick Elliot Collier, who played at Loyola.

The moves leave the Fire with 15 players on the roster. That does not include out-of-contract players Bastian Schweinsteiger, Matt Polster and Johan Kappelhof. The Fire said it is in negotiations to bring back all three, in addition to de Leeuw.

The Fire also has said it is negotiating a new contract with coach Veljko Paunovic, whose contract has expired.

Conner, who played collegiate soccer at Wisconsin, signed as a homegrown player before the 2016 season, though he did not play for the Fire that year. In the last two seasons Conner appeared in 29 games, starting 16, playing primarily at center midfielder and right back.

Conner's departure leaves midfielder Djordje Mihailovic (Lemont) and defender Grant Lillard (Hinsdale) as the only homegrown players on the roster for now.