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The rumor of Diego Forlan to the MLS has been tossed around for the past years now, and the latest tweet from the Jorge Ramos & Banda show on ESPN Deportes mentions Forlan and the Chicago Fire in the same breath.
Diego Forlan rescinde su contrato con el Inter de Porto Alegre. Posible destino seria la @MLS con Chicago Fire o la liga japonesa.
— Jorge Ramos & Banda (@ESPN_JorgeRamos) January 21, 2014
The quick and dirty translation says that Diego Forlan has had his contract terminated at Internacional of Porto Alegre and is looking to either make the jump to MLS with the Fire or head over to Asia in the Japanese J-League. For a player that has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world - such as Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan - he definitely would be that big-name Designated Player that some of Fire nation have been asking ownership to go after.
Would he be a good fit for the Fire? He would certainly fit the need for a central attacking midfielder. He has shown he can still play, but at 34 years old, how many more years does he have left in the tank? How would Yallop and Bliss make room in the salary cap to afford Forlan, who would certainly require a Designated Player salary cap number? Would Andrew Hauptman spend Designated Player money on Forlan? These are all questions that would need to be answered in order to get Forlan into a Fire jersey.
In any case, it is nice for once this off-season to see the Fire linked to a quality player of Forlan's caliber. Here is a little bit of the man in action for your viewing pleasure:
