The Fire got in a piece of business right before last week’s transfer deadline by bringing in Argentine holding defensive midfielder, Federico Navarro.
While this transaction might’ve seemed last minute, it was anything but.
The Fire have had their eye on the 21 year-old for the better part of a year, and finally got the deal done following the sale of Przemysław Frankowski to Ligue 1 side, RC Lens.
So, what does this mean for the Fire?
First off, given the fact Navarro still needs to obtain a Visa, it could be a little while before he actually arrives stateside. We don’t have a timeline for when we’ll see him just yet, but it will take a bit of time.
The biggest part of this signing is the clear-cut role that Navarro will have with the Fire. Raphael Wicky has spoken to me at length on the absence of a true ball-winning, ground-covering No. 6 to slide into the starting XI. By all accounts, that’s the makeup of Fede’s game.
He has been said to have a third lung by the Argentine media, and I can’t wait to see him terrorizing the opposition’s midfield well into the 90 minutes.
Bringing in Navarro not only fills a void that this team has been missing, but also will serve as a compliment to those around him. The new Argentine will allow Gastón Giménez and Álvaro Medrán to play further up the field with a bit more freedom. They now know that they have someone lying deeper than them, and will be able to flex their attacking muscles more frequently. Navarro sitting in front of the back-three anchored by Mauricio Pineda is a really solid look. In my estimation, the triangle that is usually point-up (Medrán and Giménez at the bottom of a single attacking midfielder) will flip and be point-down with Navarro at the bottom and Medrán/Giménez in front of him. This is total speculation, but given the success of this formation and Rapha’s affinity for the three-back, this seems like the most logical switch.
This will not only free up Tonga and Álvaro to do their thing, but it will also see them link up and combine with the likes of Chinonso Offor, Robert Berić, and Luka Stojanović, or whoever is playing up top.
Let’s keep in mind that Navarro is just 21 years old, and will be playing at a level he has never seen before. Wicky has said that he is ready to make an immediate impact whenever he gets to Chicago, though, and I believe him.
This could be the missing puzzle piece to firm things up in the engine room and allow everyone else to optimize their strengths. Navarro is very much a piano-lifter, while Medrán and Gastón are piano players. Hopefully, this signing generates a sweet playoff run tune that Fire fans will be dancing to all the way until the second week of November.
