Fire Sign CB Christian Dean From Vancouver [UPDATED]

Today’s Transfer Deadline Day in Major League Soccer! Unless an ambitious European side plunks down some cash for David Accam, or we start seeing “BAW GAWD, THAT’S JUAN QUINTERO’S MUSIC” memes on CF97 Twitter, this will end up being a pretty quiet transfer window for the Men In Red.

Which isn’t to say it’ll be completely quiet.

As always— with any transfer rumor, especially Deadline Day transfer rumors, grains of salt are called for.

But the move, while not exactly a blockbuster, would seem to make sense for all parties. The Fire are in desperate need for some defensive depth, while Dean will be looking to make a fresh start after his career with the Vancouver Whitecaps has stalled.

So what’s this guy’s deal?

Dean is 24, a left-footed central defender, and a graduate from UC-Berkeley. He was selected by Vancouver in the 2014 SuperDraft. He’s made just 12 appearances for the senior first team and has mostly spent is time with the Whitecaps out on loan— first to the club’s U23s and then to Whitecaps FC 2, their home-rolled USL affiliate. Dean missed most of 2016 due to injury and the sudden and tragic loss of his father. He looked to make a big comeback for the ‘Caps this season, but thusfar that hasn’t happened.

So, Dean will almost certainly be looking to resuscitate a career that’s in danger of petering out. He’ll also have plenty of quality mentorship available to him if the move happens— the Fire have conceded just 25 goals all season, the second-lowest in the Eastern Conference (just two more than Toronto) and third-lowest in the league (SKC has the stingiest defense with just 18 goals conceded).

Meanwhile, the Fire definitely need some defensive depth heading into the home stretch of the regular season. With João Meira evidently staying in Chi-Town through the end of 2017 and Brandon Vincent due to return from injury in the next few weeks, the Fire’s back line should be well-stocked ahead of playoff crunchtime.

The transfer window closes at midnight CDT. Clubs don’t have to announce deals before the deadline— they just need to be completed. So while the Dean deal may get done today, we might not get official word until later in the week. Either way: watch this space.

UPDATE (5:55pm CDT): Oh hey, look at that.