The Chicago Fire have exercised contract options on 11 players for the 2018 season, the club announced Tuesday.
Arturo Alvarez, David Arshakyan, Jorge Bava, Brandt Bronico, Jonathan Campbell, Stefan Cleveland, Drew Conner, Daniel Johnson, Dax McCarty, Matt Polster, and Brandon Vincent had their 2018 contract options picked up or automatically triggered by performance clauses.
Eight players had their options declined by the club: Joey Calistri, Matej Dekovic, Patrick Doody, Collin Fernandez, John Goossens, Michael Harrington, and Richard Sanchez.
In addition, the Fire declined an option to buy on-loan midfielder Juninho, while Bastian Schweinsteiger’s contract officially expire. The club said in the statement negotiations with Schweinsteiger and Sanchez are still ongoing to return next season.
After exercising options, the Fire now have 20 players under contract for the 2018 season:
Goalkeepers: Jorge Bava, Stefan Cleveland, Matt Lampson
Defenders: Jonathan Campbell, Jorge Corrales, Christian Dean, Johan Kappelhof, Matt Polster, Brandon Vincent
Midfielders: David Accam, Arturo Alvarez, Brandt Bronico, Drew Conner, Daniel Johnson, Dax McCarty, Djordje Mihailovic
Forwards: David Arshakyan, Michael de Leeuw, Nemanja Nikolic, Luis Solignac