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When the Fire announced on Tuesday that, pending receipt of his ITC, Kennedy Igboananike would be newest DP, the cf97 nation took to social media (Twitter in particular) and had their say about the newest signing. Here are some of the opinions that were out there in cf97 nation:
@ChicagoFire How did you know?! That's EXACTLY what I wanted for Christmas! #wow #cf97
— Kreegs (@Kreegs4THP) December 2, 2014
Who? #cf97
— Nik Bajaj (@ChiFireEyedBoy) December 2, 2014
I like the signing of Kennedy Igboananike for #CF97 but I hope he isn't the only player they bring in- the defence needs to be improved NOW!
— Jason Button (@butskijnr) December 2, 2014
@kev_egan 25 years old and on an upswing. Promising enough to get #QPR & #Southampton looking at him as well. I like him for #cf97 & #MLS.
— Ryan Walters (@MrRyanWalters) December 2, 2014
#CF97 sign yet another striker DP nobody has ever heard of. Frickin' typical Chicago Fire business. What a joke they've become. #MLS
— Max Householder (@MaxHouseholder) December 2, 2014
Never heard of the new #cf97 DP forward, Kennedy Igboananike, but seems like a good player with upside. Hope this works out. #fb
— Eric J. Kekeis (@pezkoreaddict) December 2, 2014
The new DP signing for #cf97 is only acceptable if they sign two more, established DPs. So far, ZERO regrets not renewing season tix.
— John Jenzeh (@johnjenzeh) December 2, 2014
Fire get the drop on Southampton, QPR, Wolves to sign striker Igboananike: http://t.co/IIf0QfwNls #cf97 fans are tough crowd, for a reason
— Joel Biden (@JoelBiden) December 2, 2014
More optimistic than cautiously optimistic about Kennedy Nike. Now more Argentines and more Cubo @ChicagoFire. Kthnxbye. #cf97
— Anthony Galante (@AntwonGalante) December 2, 2014
That’s not @MixDiskerud #cf97
— Patrick (@ThisIsntPat) December 2, 2014
As you can tell by a small sample of #cf97 tweets that opinions are divided about this signing. I had never heard of Igboananike before Tuesday as I don't follow the Scandinavian leagues, but my take on the signing is that he may work out. Pace is something that we need up front; hopefully he has some finishing skills to compliment that pace. He has shown throughout the Swedish football leagues that he can finish as a double digit scorer.
The thing that worries me about the signing is that he played in Sweden. His most productive years came while playing for Vasalunds IF in the Swedish 3rd and 2nd divisions in 2008 and 2009. He did have a 16-goal season with AIK in 2013, but followed that up with a 6-goal season in 2014. I don't know if he has the skill to be that reliable target forward that the Fire have missing since the days of Damani Ralph and Ante Razov.
The fact that there was a transfer fee associated with this signing is also a bit worrisome. How did the team pay for the fee? Was it out of pocket, or was it paid with league allocation money? We will never know, in all likelihood.
The bigger question among the cf97 faithful is, "Is this the only DP we are going to get?" I can see Kennedy being a complimentary piece to possibly some bigger, more established players - but are those bigger DPs on the way? There will be a lot of pressure on Yallop and Bliss if this signing does not work out, especially if this is the only DP signing of the off season.
I hope for the best with Kennedy Igboananike and I hope that he tears it up in 2015. Welcome to Chi-town, Kennedy.