One of eight Chicago Fire players with guaranteed contracts for 2017, David Accam will be primed and ready for a return to the Windy City when preseason training begins in January.
However, there also have been ongoing discussions to extend the team's back-to-back Most Valuable Player, Golden Boot award winner and current Goal of the Year nominee beyond just next season.
“We engaged in discussions on a contract extension beginning in August," Fire GM Nelson Rodríguez told media on Tuesday. "His representative got married in September so we decided to take a break and allow his representative to enjoy that. We then decided to push everything off until the end of the season."
Accam bagged 14 goals in 2016 across the team's MLS and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaigns, and added five assists to his name as well. Often dangerous from the wing, Rodríguez is hoping to keep the 26-year-old Ghanaian international in Chicago for the foreseeable future despite some recent delays in negotiations.
"We still, at the end of September when (Accam's representative) returned from his wedding, were still in the playoff hunt," Rodríguez said. "In October, I didn’t want discussions to get in the way of David’s FIFA appointment where he went in early October and where he’ll be going in two weeks."
Now, with the offseason getting into full swing, Rodríguez will have time to bring the negotiations back to the forefront.
"I have scheduled to speak to his agent this week again," he said. "We’ll see where those discussions are.”
