Recently acquired forward David Arshakyan tuned in to the Chicago Fire's 3-0 victory in Montreal on Saturday night, and had some encouraging words for head coach Veljko Paunovic afterward.
"After the game I got a message from David," Paunovic said. "He was very excited too that we won and also saw the good performance we had in the game. He was a little impatient to come, but unfortunately we have to wait for him still because he is in the process to get his visa so he can come and join us here."
Arshakyan was acquired near the end of MLS' secondary transfer window from Lithuania's FK Trakai, but has yet to join the team due to necessary visa process required of international players.
"We don’t have any updates on that," Paunovic said. "It’s something that we don’t control and we can’t do anything about it but provide all the necessary support and documents and whatever it takes to speed up the process. Hopefully we can have him this week and we’ll see if that happens.”
Arshakyan looks to have a busy few weeks ahead of him outside of just his move to the Windy City. It was noted by Paunovic today that he had been called into the senior Armenian national team for their matches on Aug. 31 against the Czech Republic and on Sept. 4 against Denmark, a World Cup qualifier.
"It’s a positive thing to have guys who are called into the national team because that means they are doing good," Paunovic said. "That means they are quality players, because we all know how important it is playing for the national team."
When the sizable 21-year-old will officially arrive in Chicago remains to be seen, but the Men In Red will continue their preparations for Wednesday's match at home against the LA Galaxy (7:30 p.m. CT, CSN Chicago Plus) in his stead.
