CHICAGO (Nov. 23, 2016) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced Wednesday that the team has exercised contract options on nine players.
The Fire have exercised the 2017 options on Arturo Alvarez, Jonathan Campbell, Sean Johnson, Matt Lampson, Matt Polster, Brandon Vincent and Homegrown players Joey Calistri, Drew Conner and Patrick Doody.
"We have made decisions that we believe give us maximum flexibility as we execute our plan for the next phase of our roster construction,” said Fire general manager Nelson Rodríguez. “The men whose contracts we did not exercise have given their all to the club and our city. We sincerely hope that they are successful in their respective next opportunity and we are thankful for the commitment they demonstrated on behalf of Chicago Fire SC.”
READ: Fire roster picture gains clarity for 2017
The Fire additionally will not exercise the options on nine players: Razvan Cocis, Eric Gehrig, Nick LaBrocca, Patrick McLain, Alex Morrell, Rodrigo Ramos, Michael Stephens, Luis Solignac and Khaly Thiam.
LaBrocca is eligible for Free Agency while Gehrig and Stephens are eligible to participate in MLS’ Re-Entry process.
Eight players were already under guaranteed contracts for next year, including: David Accam, David Arshakyan, Michael de Leeuw, Collin Fernandez, John Goossens, Michael Harrington, Johan Kappelhof and Joao Meira.
The Fire’s current roster for 2017 stands at 17 players:
Goalkeepers (2): Sean Johnson, Matt Lampson
Defenders (6): Jonathan Campbell, Patrick Doody, Michael Harrington, Johan Kappelhof, Joao Meira, Brandon Vincent
Midfielders (6): Arturo Alvarez, Joey Calistri, Drew Conner, Collin Fernandez, John Goossens, Matt Polster
Forwards (3): David Accam, David Arshakyan, Michael de Leeuw
