With Marco Pappa officially signed by the league, the Friday deadline is fast approaching for the Chicago Fire to put up their best offer for their former midfielder.
As of now, it appears the Guatemalan won't be donning Fire red any time soon. The Seattle Sounders sit at the top of the allocation rankings, and they're demanding more than Chicago are willing to part with.
“There's no update. It's up to Seattle right now to see what they want to do,” coach and director of soccer operations Frank Yallop said on a conference call on Thursday. “They want way too much for the value of that spot, they're asking for way too much to get that. At this point, we're not going to do that. Things can change, we've done our best to get into the running for Marco, but that doesn't look too good right now.”
The Fire have made clear their intentions to go after the 26-year-old midfielder, who they sold to Dutch side Heerenveen two seasons ago after initially deciding to retain his rights. The former MLS All-Star played 112 games and scored 26 goals over five seasons in Chicago.
He most likely won't be adding to those totals any time soon.
“Again, you never know in our league, things can change very, very quickly,” Yallop said. “It hasn't been for lack of trying, we have tried to land him, but there's nothing right now."
