If reports in Germany are to be believed, the Chicago Fire were close to adding another German warhorse to their roster, only for Borussia Dortmund to commit to captain Sebastian Kehl for one more year.
There's been speculation in Germany that Kehl's place in the Dortmund team is at risk with Nuri Sahin returning from Real Madrid on loan, but Bild reported Wednesday that manager Jürgen Klopp will exercise the club's option on the midfielder, preventing the 32-year-old from linking up with Arne Friedrich in the Windy City.
Had the Fire been able to land Kehl – assuming their rumored interest was indeed concrete – he would have provided a direct replacement for Pável Pardo, who announced his retirement last week. As it stands, Pardo's place will most likely be filled by Jeff Larentowicz, acquired from Colorado in a trade prior to the MLS SuperDraft.
What do you think? Would Kehl be a good fit in MLS? Do the Fire even need another central midfielder after a busy offseason?
UPDATE: Word from the Fire makes this one almost certainly the work of an enterprising agent rather than actual interest in Kehl.
