BRIDGEVIEW, IL—One of the Chicago Fire’s priorities after a disastrous 2018 was to acquire a central defender. They feel they got their man in Brazilian defender Marcelo. Marcelo, 29, joins the Fire from Sporting Lisbon where he only saw 90 minutes of action in the Portuguese League Cup after joining them in 2018. Prior to that though, he played seven seasons with Rio Ave FC of Portugal where he made 172 appearances. He also made 11 appearances for Rio Ave FC in the UEFA Europa League.
“Marcelo will add necessary leadership along our back line,” said Fire President and General Manager Nelson Rodriguez. “He is a smart defender who participates in every phase of the game. He is known as a solid teammate and he is driven to win, which fits our locker room well.”
Marcelo is under contract for 2019 and 2020 and will be added to the roster pending completion of a physical and receipt of his ITC.
THOUGHTS: Central back was a huge void after Joao Meira left and the Fire never adequately replaced him. Marcelo could well be the first piece of what could be an entirely new defensed with Brandon Vincent retiring and both Matt Polster and Johan Kappelhof currently out of contract.
