Fire Sign Yura Movsisyan

On Friday morning, the the Chicago Fire announced that they have picked up Yura Movsisyan off waivers. The 31-year-old was most recently in action for Swedish side Djurgårdens IF, but is best known for his time at fellow MLS side Real Salt Lake, where he won MLS Cup in 2009.

It’s far from the most exciting acquisition, but the Fire are picking up a talented attacker for no transfer fee. Movsisyan has plenty of ability on the ball, and could help provide a creative spark in a Fire attack that has stagnated at times. There have always been concerns about his work ethic, and his perceived laziness was the main reason he was recently forced out by RSL by head coach Mike Petke.

Movsisyan does have a proven track record, scoring 31 goals in MLS in just over 100 appearances. The peak of his career came across 2011 and 2012, when he grabbed 23 goals for Russian Premier League side Kuban Krasnodar, which earned him a big money move to Spartak Moscow the following season. He’s also featured at the international level, earning 34 caps for Armenia.

At this point of the season, there is not really anything to gain. However, in picking up Movsisyan, the Fire are allowing the player extra time to adapt to his new surroundings, and set him up to have a bigger role come next season. Hopefully, Fire fans will be able to look back at this relatively underwhelming move as a shrewd pickup in a years’ time.