CHGO Fire Notebook: Gastón Giménez out for the season

The Chicago Fire will have to do without midfielder Gastón Giménez for the remainder of the 2022 season. Giménez underwent a successful right proximal hamstring endoscopic tendon repair, the club announced today. The recovery time is around four months.

“It’s going to be a big miss, but you know, we have capable guys that can do the job, that have done the job while Gastón has been out earlier in the season, but it’s definitely going to be a big miss for us,” Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson has a few options to replace Giménez. He could continue to start Mauricio Pineda, or opt for Fabian Herbers. But, Hendrickson suggested he might go a different direction.

“Possibly Jairo Torres is someone we are thinking about maybe can play inside,” Hendrickson said. “We have not discussed a formation change because the team was built a certain way. Really for the last eight games, we’d put certain guys out of position. But Jairo has played in the middle. He has shown he can play there.”

Torres played centrally for Atlas in Liga MX before moving to MLS. While he’s been underwhelming since joining the Fire on May 1, a change of position might be what he needs to get things going.

Other injury updates: Defender Carlos Terán will be ready to play Saturday vs. CF Montreal at Soldier Field, Hendrickson said. Terán, who was out a few weeks with a hamstring injury, came back for the 2-0 loss to NYCFC, only to come out in the second half when his leg began cramping up.

And, Hendrickson said there’s no update on centerback Wyatt Omsberg, who is recovering from a broken foot. At this point, there’s a reasonable chance Omsberg won’t play again this season.

Fire announce trade with LA Galaxy

For those who love a random MLS trade, here you go: the Fire are picking up $50,000 in General Allocation Money from the LA Galaxy, in exchange for a 2022 international roster spot. CHGO is told the move, coupled with the $325,000 in General Allocation Money the Fire got in the Chinonso Offor trade, will help the club “maximize the cap in certain ways next season.” So there you go.

Djordje Moving to AZ Alkmaar

Former Fire homegrown Djordje Mihailovic will move to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in January, in a deal officially announced today. The deal could be north of $6 million, according to MLSsoccer.com’s Tom Bogert. The Fire will get 10 percent of the deal, so somewhere around $600,000, as part of Mihailovic’s trade to Montreal. A source tells CHGO that money is fully convertible to General Allocation Money.

Mihailovic missed last week’s match while he was in the Netherlands finalizing the deal, but he’s likely back this weekend against the Fire at Soldier Field. You can bet Djordje will be hungry to put on a show–one last time–in Chicago.

Back at Soldier Field

The Fire have just two matches left at Soldier Field this season-Saturday vs. Montreal and the Sept. 17 match vs. Charlotte. The other two–Sept. 10 against Inter Miami and Oct. 9 vs. the Revolution–have been moved to SeatGeek Stadium because of Bears scheduling conflicts.

The first 5,000 fans will get a pretty sweet giveaway this weekend–a model of the old version of Soldier Field–pre-spaceship renovation. Check it out:

The Fire and Montreal kick off at 7 on Saturday. With just eight games, the Fire will desperately need a win–and the three points that come with it–to stay in the playoff race.

“We see it as a 24-point season right now,” Hendrickson said. “Just getting as much as you can get. We think anywhere from 15 to 18 will do it but you know, it’s still left to be seen because you have to figure in what happens with the other games.”

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