FIRE: Chicago Fire FC addressed a need at fullback by adding French defender Arnaud Soquet from Ligue 1 side Montpellier. Soquet will occupy an international roster spot and pending ITC and receipt of his P-1 Visa. He is signed through the 2025 season.
“We are very excited to welcome Arnaud to the Club,” said Sporting Director Georg Heitz. “We went into the offseason with a focus on strengthening the outside back position and improving our defending in transition. Arnaud is a very experienced player who has been playing regularly in a top-five league and his addition will help to immediately solidify our backline.”
Soquet spent four seasons at Montpellier. Before that, he made his professional debut with Lille in 2009, and has played more than 300 matches across all competitions in the French and Belgian first and second divisions. Most notably, Souquet played 103 matches for Montpellier HSC since 2019 across all competitions, scoring four goals and registering six assists as a defender.
RED STARS: On Monday, the Chicago Red Stars promoted Michelle Lomnicki to the position of General Manager. Lomnicki had been the club’s associate general manager since January 2022.
“Promoting Michelle to General Manager was an easy decision. Her professionalism, work ethic and experience as both a former Red Star player and in the corporate sector make her uniquely qualified to lead soccer operations for the club,” said Kim Vender Moffat, Chicago Red Stars Chairwoman.
Lomnicki played a total of five season across WPS, WPSL, and NWSL for the Red Stars in 2009 and from 2012 to 2015. Lomnicki made 48 appearances between those latter years starting in 39 of those matches.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to head up the soccer operations for the Chicago Red Stars,” said Lomnicki. “For over 14 years, this organization, the players, the staff and the fans have been home to me. It’s where I started and ended my professional playing career, it’s where I met my husband and started our family. While I’m not originally from here, half of my life has been spent living as a Chicagoan and knowing how championship-hungry fans are in this great city. I’m ready for the challenge of taking this club into a new era of pro women’s soccer. Over the past year while serving as Associate GM, I’ve spent every day learning and preparing to take this step in helping to lead the franchise. We look forward to building through the upcoming draft, constantly evaluating talent and how it fits into our blue-collar mentality. However, first and foremost, my priority will always be to put our players and staff first in every discussion and decision we make. The Chicago Red Stars are a cornerstone of the NWSL, and it will be my daily aim to work toward bringing championships to our great city and fan base!”
Additionally, the Red Stars added midfielder Addie McCain off the waiver wire. McCain played ten matches last season with Kansas City Current. On Sunday, defender Zoe Morse announced that she would not be returning to the Red Stars.
