The Chicago Fire may be surging toward the playoffs, but it appears the club is dealing with the potential loss of a star player.
According to Goal USA, Fire winger David Accam has submitted a transfer request. Accam has reportedly been the subject of interest from abroad and is now pushing for the club to allow him to move on. According to the report, the relationship between Accam and Veljko Paunovic is now strained after the latter did not select the former to participate in the MLS All-Star Game.
The decision was reportedly the “last straw” for Accam, who demanded a move away from the Fire before last week’s loss against 10-man New York City FC. Accam was subsequently benched, but came off the bench to score in the 2-1 defeat.
Multiple Ligue 1 have reportedly registered interest but none have met the Fire’s $3 million valuation of the winger. The report adds that the Fire could trade Accam within MLS and previously offered a deal to the New York Red Bulls this offseason that would have seen the club send Accam and allocation money to the Red Bulls in exchanged for Dax McCarty and Sacha Kljestan.
The Fire are reportedly working on a deal for midfielder Juan Quintero, but any move would require the club to free up a DP slot. The team could buy Accam’s contract down using TAM, but given his unhappiness, it could be the right time to cut ties with a player that wants out.
Entering the weekend, Accam has fired 11 goals for the Fire while adding 10 assists.
My how the mighty have fallen Juan Quintero was touted as James Rodriguez 2.0 after his youth world cup exploits.
Cut throat from the Fire but it’s difficult to argue with anything Pauno sees as fit for the team. This guy knows exactly what he’s doing and is as calculated as any coach the MLS has seen. The culture he has instilled can be described as impressive