The Fire continued to address their lack of depth up top Tuesday by selecting three attacking players in the Supplemental Draft.
Chicago drafted forward Amani Walker (UC Irvine) with the ninth overall pick, forward/midfielder Yannick Salmon (Rutgers) with the 27th selection and forward Sam Arthur (South Carolina) with the 45th pick.
“We selected three athletic players who have a knack for scoring,” Fire technical director Frank Klopas said in a statement. “Amani, Yannick and Sam have performed well at the collegiate ranks and we look forward to them joining the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.”
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Walker scored 27 goals and registered 11 assists over four years at UCI. The former Jamaican U-20 international was named the Big West Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2010.
Salmon, who transferred to Rutgers from Maryland after his freshman year, started his college career as a defender but moved to forward before the start of his junior season. The New York native – who, like Walker, is a former Jamaican youth international – played well after being moved up top, scoring six goals in both his junior and senior seasons.
Arthur, a left-footed striker, scored 26 goals and tallied nine assists in 57 games at South Carolina. He was named to the All-Conference USA first team in 2008 and 2009.
The three picks add to the two strikers Chicago selected in last week’s SuperDraft: Jason Herrick out of Maryland and Cal product Davis Paul.
The Fire now have seven forwards on their preseason roster. The team kept five forwards on the squad for the majority of the 2010 season.
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
