Dec 31 The Gregg Berhalter Era Kicks Off With Gaston Gimenez Gone & Signing Jack Elliott | OneFootball

Fire fans have had a treat to start their Gregg Berhalter era by cutting some fat, promoting youth, and even making a splash in the free agency market. The club has gotten off of two contracts this offseason, and one very key one. First, the club has loaned out current Greek youth international Georgios Koutsias to sister club FC Lugano in Switzerland for the 2025 MLS season. The 20 year old had 10 goal contributions in roughly 2,200 career minutes played for the Fire. This move opens up a U22 Initiative spot for the club moving forward.  The club has also opened up a Designated Player spot after the mutual termination of Gaston Gimenez’s contract. The 33 year old defensive midfielder finishes his time with the Fire at just under 10,000 minutes played. Unfortunately, in the opinion of many around MLS, Gimenez never played up to his “DP” tag. But now with an open DP and U22 spot, Gregg Berhalter has a lot of room to make this roster into a playoff contender in 2025.

Outside of making some cuts, the Fire have been active in player addition. The Fire signed arguably the best free agent centerback in Jack Elliott. The 29 year old MLS veteran has played his entire career with the Philadelphia Union where he won a Supporters Shield title. With 270 career games and 24 goal contributions under his belt, Elliott has proven to be one of the better centerbacks in MLS and I think he can be that under Berhalter. The club also promoted some players from the Chicago Fire II and former academy players. First, the Fire signed 2024 MLS Next Pro MVP David Poreba from their second team. The 22 year old central midfielder won the MLS Next Pro Golden Boot and in 33 games last season he finished with 21 goals and 6 assists. Alongside Poreba, the Fire have promoted Fire II winger Omari Glasgow to the 1st team. The 21 year old Guyana international winger has 28 career goal contributions for the Fire II in 62 games. Glasgow is already one of the best Guyana players and goal scorers of all time. He has 20 goals and 5 assists in 29 caps for his home nation. Lastly, the Fire have signed midfielder Dylan Borso who is coming out of Wake Forest University in NCAA. Borso is a former Fire academy player and had made a few career appearances for the Fire II in MLS Next Pro.