(Editor’s Note: The Fire made the trade official on Thursday morning.)
CHICAGO, IL–Brian Sandalow of the Chicago Sun-Times is citing sources that Chicago Fire FC will trade midfielder Djordje Mihailovic to the Montreal Impact for $800,000 in guaranteed allocation money with another $200,000 if he hits performance benchmarks. The deal has not been made official as of the time of this reporting and the Fire will also retain 10% of any future sale involving Mihailovic, whose contract was up at the end of the 2021 season.
The Athletic is reporting that Montreal will be giving Mihailovic a new deal worth over $700,000 per year. In 2019, the last year salary information was made available by the MLS players’ association, Mihailovic earned $114,600 in guaranteed compensation.
Mihailovic has had an up-and-down time in his four seasons with the Fire. After a promising rookie season in 2017, it ended with a torn ACL in the playoff loss against New York Red Bulls. He only played nine times in 2018. Mihailovic’s 2019 season started with his first cap for the US Men’s National Team, but went downhill after he was recorded in a profane incident with Fire fans after their loss in the 2019 US Open Cup against the now-defunct Saint Louis FC of the USL Championship, and his progress was halted that season when the Fire signed veteran Nicolas Gaitan to eat into his playing time.
It was expected that 2020 might be an up season for Mihailovic under new coach Raphael Wicky, but it was notable for a “technical and tactical decision” by Wicky to not play him in the Fire’s 2-0 loss to Vancouver in the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando–a loss the eliminated the Fire from that competition. He would score two goals and tally seven assists which led the Fire this season.
IN OTHER NEWS….. The Fire continue to get younger. First, they signed 21-year old Bulgarian international Stanislav Ivanov from Levski Sofia, last Wednesday.
Ivanov has spent the first six seasons of his career in the Bulgarian first division, tallying 13 goals and 15 assists. Overall, he has made 85 appearances (54 starts) across all competitions for Levski Sofia, including five appearances (four starts) in the UEFA Europa League. The 2019-20 campaign marked a career-high in goals (nine), assists (five), games played (27) and starts (25) for the winger.
Ivanov will be added to the Fire’s 2021 roster pending a medical and receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and P1 Visa. He is under contract with the Fire through the 2023 season with a Club option for the 2024 season.
“As we continue to build a strong and competitive roster for 2021 and beyond, it was important that we added another talented, young attacking player,” said Chicago Fire FC Sporting Director Georg Heitz. “Stanislav is a dynamic and hard-working winger who fits our style of play extremely well. We expect him to be an integral part of the team moving forward.”
Four days later, the Fire traded their first-round draft pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft (sixth overall) to the Colorado Rapids for $125,000 in general allocation money. That leaves the Fire with overall picks #33, #47, and #60.
Austin FC will get the #1-overall pick continuing the tradition of a first-year MLS team getting said pick. No Fire players were selected in Tuesday’s expansion draft while Austin drafted Danny Hoesen from San Jose, Jared Stroud from New York Red Bulls, goalkeeper Brady Scott from Nashville SC, midfielder Joe Corona from LA Galaxy, and defender Kamal Miller from Orlando; whom they flipped to Montreal for $225,000 in general allocation money and the #11 overall pick.
