Some reports are coming out of Uruguay that the Chicago Fire have offered Federico Puppo a three-year contract. Puppo is a 25 year-old Uruguayan striker that plays for Danubio FC in Uruguay's top soccer division. This sounds like Diego Chaves Part Dos. Same age, about the same height, but Puppo has less experience.

Whereas Chaves played with Mexican clubs Querétaro and Veracruz, Puppo hasn't played outside of Uruguay. In the last three seasons, Puppo has scored at a rate of about once every 3 games. That's not bad but Puppo's ceiling can't be much higher than Diego Chaves if at all. I wouldn't mind having a Chaves like player as a 3rd/4th striker off the bench, but why not just bring back Chaves? James Coston's update last week mentioned that Chaves is currently waiting for the Fire to call him and is open to returning.

It's rumored that Chaves' option on his contract is a little high but it has to be quite a lot if the team wants to roll the dice on how Puppo would adjust to MLS. The only silver lining here is Federico Puppo was invited to participate in the 2011 Pan-American Games as one of the older exceptions on Uruguay's soccer squad. It's not exactly an elite tournament but Uruguay has to have seen some value to letting Puppo represent them internationally. I'll give Klopas the benefit of the doubt Puppo's a late bloomer if this is true but it's still a questionable use of an international slot and there aren't even many projected Senior Roster spots left for the 2012 season. Puppo is not close to the same caliber of player you want to see the Fire looking at on the same day FC Dallas announced they signed the ever reliable Panamanian striker Blas Perez.. For those who really want to take a look, here is Puppo's 'highlight reel'.