Chicago Fire’s Przemyslaw Frankowski receives his U.S. Green Card, clearing an international slot

Chicago Fire midfielder Przemyslaw Frankowski has received his U.S. green card, a source tells Hot Time in Old Town. The move means the 25-year-old Polish winger now qualifies as a domestic player on the Fire’s roster, no longer occupying a valuable international slot.

With the off-season signings of Nigerian forward Chinonso Offor, Ecuadorian defender Jhon Espinoza, and Bulgarian winger Stanislav Ivanov, and with more signings potentially coming soon, the Fire are over their allotment of eight international slots. But, at a news conference in November, Fire sporting director Georg Heitz said seven players returning from the 2020 roster were close to receiving green cards, “which gives us a certain flexibility regarding international slots,” he said.

Hot Time is told Frankowski’s green card was the first of those seven to come through, and the others are “trending positively.” In the last year, the Fire’s staff has aggressively worked to cut through the red tape on the green cards. New Zealand forward Elliot Collier received his shortly before the 2020 season began, and it appears we should expect more green cards to come through soon.