Chicago Fire shake up the roster, the Alexis Sanchez saga and the best of the soccer weekend

After a largely quiet offseason, Chicago exploded to become the talk of soccer in the United States this weekend.

This edition of the Top Five recaps a very hectic and fructiferous weekend for the Chicago Fire, analyzes Alexis Sanchez’s move to Manchester (and Arsenal’s latest failure), highlights a bloody, drought-breaking performance for Cristiano Ronaldo, and salutes an unlikely star who is stealing headlines from Neymar and PSG in France.

All this and much more in this latest edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.

1. Wheelin’ and dealin’

If Chicago Fire fans were getting anxious about the club’s lack of movement this offseason, this weekend made up for the darkness, and thensome.

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General manager Nelson Rodriguez stole the show at Friday’s MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia, shaking the very foundation of the draft order during a very hectic first round. With the Fire originally scheduled to pick 12th, Rodriguez began to move, dipping into his allocated money pot o’ gold to secure a top-five selection by sending goalkeeper Matt Lampson, their 12th overalll pick, and $175,000 to Minnesota United for their fifth overall selection. With it, the Fire drafter Wake Forest forward Jon Bakero, hailed as one of the most talented and skilled players available in the draft.

Rodriguez would not stop there. He proceeded to work on acquiring a second first-round selection, and managed to do just that. Chicago sent $85,000 in allocation money to Real Salt Lake for the tenth overall picked, which was used to select Mo Adams, a defensive-styled midfielder out of Syracuse. In a couple of moves, Rodriguez bolstered the depth of the roster with two top-ten draft picks.

But that wasn’t even the biggest move. Rodriguez dropped a bombshell on the draft and the league later in the day, shocking everyone by sending star winger David Accam to the Philadelphia Union for a whopping $1.2 million in allocation money. The GM managed to leave Philadelphia with better, younger depth and a pile of money to potentially spend on another big-name player.

So much for the quiet coming out of Toyota Park. On Friday, Rodriguez set off some major fireworks, and he is not even done yet.

2. From red to red

One half of the Arsenal dilemma is soon to be deciphered, at long last.

By the time this Top Five goes out to the world, the move may already be sealed, so let’s address it as if it was.

Alexis Sanchez’s future at Arsenal has been finally decided, as he heads over to Manchester, but not the team everyone assumed it would be. At the 11th hour, Jose Mourinho and Manchester United backed up the proverbial armored truck full of cash and swooped in to steal the Chilean right from under Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s nose.

What makes the move even more painful for the Gunners is in the details. Not only doe they lose Sanchez to a rival in the middle of the season, but all they get in return, reportedly, is the out-of-favor Henrik Mkhitaryan in a straight player-for-player swap. Therefore, the armored truck wasn’t even driven for Arsene Wenger. It was for Sanchez, who is set to become the highest-paid player at Old Trafford by signing a new deal.

United get one of the top players in the Premier League, and perhaps the attacking piece to go along with Romelu Lukaku it had been missing for months. Arsenal add another badly-handled roster situation to their laundry list, receiving pennies compared to the actual market value for Sanchez.

Oh, and Mesut Ozil still has not signed a new contract. The Arsenal house of cards is collapsing rapidly.

3. Blood, sweat, and goals

Cristiano Ronaldo’s much-heralded goal scoring slump in La Liga was relieved just for one game, but it came at a cost.

The reigning Ballon d’Or winner broke out of a three-match scoring drought with two goals in Real Madrid’s 7-1 thumping of Deportivo La Coruña on Sunday, raising his league total to a meager six goals, well behind Lionel Messi’s league-leading 19 goals.

Real Madrid put forth its best performance since the 5-0 rout of Sevilla on December 9, but it wasn’t without flashes of its erratic, inconsistent passing that resulted in a 1-0 deficit that brought back memories of recent upsets by the likes of Villarreal and Betis. This time, Zinedine Zidane’s side came back with a vengeance, rattling off seven goals, including Ronaldo’s two.

The day wasn’t all celebration for the Portuguese, however. On his second goal, Ronaldo dove to head the ball into the net, but not without being kicked in the face, opening up a gash above his left eyebrow that left him bloodied on the Santiago Bernabeu grass.

For Real Madrid’s sake, Ronaldo’s scoring better continue if they want to cut their losses in this lost league campaign.

4. Fekir’s on fire

Lost in the Paris Saint-Germain-centered rhetoric that surrounds Ligue 1 week after week is the breakout season of Lyon’s Nabil Fekir.

The departure of Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal left Lyon with a perceived void in the attack. That void has been filled remarkably by the 24-year-old Fekir, whose having a career season leading Lyon to currently sitting in second place, eight points behind PSG.

Through 26 matches across all competitions, Fekir has already surpassed his best single-season goal mark by four goals, and has proven to be the MVP of the team, if not the league. His 15 goals in Ligue 1 only trail Edinson Cavani’s 20 and Radamel Falcao’s 16. Not even Neymar himself can say he has scored more than Fekir. And to take it a step further, the 220-million-euro Brazilian cannot say he has been as valuable to his team.

Fekir complements his numbers with his versatility on the field, being deployed at winger, central midfielder, and even as a false nine. What makes him so valuable is that he has influenced the game in all roles, as Lyon’s game always goes through him no matter where he is on the pitch.

In a French league controlled media-wise by the big names in Paris, Fekir is making a very strong case to be considered as the best player in all of Ligue 1, without all the fanfare and attention.

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5. More Fekir

Continuing with the Fekir tribute, his amazing season hit another high points on Sunday, at a time when Lyon needed him the most. OL hosted rivals PSG in a key match for top-three stability, and Fekir came through with flying colors. The 24-year-old cam through, providing an assist and this amazing free kick goal that earn Lyon the biggest victory of their season, and the Top Five’s Goal of the Weekend.