BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – In a week where New York City FC confirmed the signing of David Villa and continue to be linked with Frank Lampard, Frank Yallop admitted he and his backroom staff are “forever looking” for new recruits and that perhaps one marquee addition that could get the Chicago Fire’s season back on track.
MLS has been awash with excitement and anticipation as franchises like NYCFC continue to be linked with top European stars, while others like the Portland Timbers have been rumored to be on the verge of a big-money move for Joleon Lescott.
However, Yallop had words of encouragement for the success-starved Chicago soccer public by insisting that the club is working diligently to bring in quality reinforcements during the July transfer window.
“It’s just a matter of sifting through the roster and seeing what we have, see what’s available out there,” Yallop told reporters at Tuesday's training session at Toyota Park. “We’ve said it before, we’re not afraid to go out and get players, especially ones that make sense for our market and what we want to do.
“We’re forever looking, still, myself Brian [Bliss, technical director] and Trevor [James, head of scouting], we’re all over it, hoping for some signings in the window, but we’ll see.”
At practice last week, Bliss confirmed to the media that DaMarcus Beasley was on the club’s radar.
"We've talked to his representation,” Bliss was quoted saying in The Daily Herald. “Is it the biggest need in our club? No, but it's a semi-need. It fits a fan-base need, an identification need. It's just a matter of cost."
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Three games in seven days this week, is sure to stretch Yallop’s club to its limits with a road game against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday (9 pm ET; MLS Live) quickly followed by a home clash with Western Conference-leading Seattle Sounders on Saturday (8:30 pm ET; MLS Live), both on the heels of Sunday’s exhausting 1-1 tie with the LA Galaxy.
And while Yallop confirmed he will try to retain the services of Tottenham Hotspur loanee Grant Ward beyond the original agreed date in July, he admitted it has not been easy to attract targets to the Fire.
“There’s a lot of blind alleys you go down, and you get let down in the end,” he said. “We’re just trying our best to make the squad better and try to make the right moves that help us in the long term. It’s not just a short term thing for me.”
