The Chicago Fire will now lose another player to Europe, but in this case will get to wait until the offseason. Striker Chris Rolfe has agreed to join Danish club Aalborg in the January transfer window. He'll remain with the club through the end of the year, including any possible playoff action.
"We knew he was going to have some great opportunities," Klopas told MLSnet. "He is a talented player. I know he wants to have that experience. He's at the age where if he doesn't make this move now, he might not have this opportunity again."
Rolfe's contract expires at the end of this season, making his move a free transfer. He'll join Marcus Tracy, the 2008 Hermann Trophy winner who already plays over there.
What do you think of Rolfe's move? Will it be good for his career? Can the Fire move on without him? Share your thoughts below.
Guess I’d better bone up on my Danish–I apparently did misunderstand what I read and posted earlier about Aalborg’s team. However, having said that, as someone else pointed out, Rolfe had more potential at Davies age (23, I believe) and I personally think he will develop quite quickly under a good coach and exceed what he has accomplished in the MLS. In addition, I have watched him for years and he has always been the underdog and somehow has worked his way into being a top player. Physically, he is a late bloomer to begin with so the 3-year differential with Charlie is not a major drawback. Secondly, again as noted by another poster, I don’t ever recall saying he was going to be a star for the national team, but I do think simply because he is still developing his game, I think you will see more out of him in Denmark than he has had the opportunity to show in the MLS. Time will tell, though. I know he is pumped up about the opportunity and that he feels he will get much better as a player in Denmark. If that is his objective, then I think he will improve significantly.
I had missed this news at 1st. I have mixed feelings way hapy for Rolfe, and now in depair for the Fire. Klopas will be a busy man now. If only he or Mcbride were coaching.
Funy that season ticket info will be posted soon, lots of new names and numbers to learn.
Rolfe is not going to play with the NT unless in the January friendly against Sweden or Denmark. So many Yanks in Denmark now, that most likely we’ll be playing them in January with a squad of MLSers and Scandinavian based players.
I’m so happy for ROLFE! He deserves to get with a professional organization. What I find amusing is that the FIRE’s website refers to him as “Fire FORWARD”. Does their head coach know this? I wish him all the best. He’s scored the most meaningful and clutch goals for this team for the last 3 years.
And PAPA BEAR:
Love your acumen usually, but the fact that FIRE players are going to EUROPE doesn’t necessarily reflect that they have an ability to “develop young talent”. The only thing that HAMLETT has developed is a slightly better than .500 record with some of the league’s best talent. If anything, he’s stunted ROLFE’s development by playing him on the wing. What these moves reflect is the hated Dave Sarachan’s eye for young talent. (SOUMARE, PICKENS, and ROLFE were his guys….and to be clear, I’m not saying he was a good coach, just that he could evaluate talent.)
Chris Rolfe is a fantastic player; great first touch, creative, instinctive, clever. He scores some crazy goals. I will never forget the goal against AC Milan; maldini is still looking of the ball. He once scored 4 goals in a single MLS game. In fact he will be more effective in europe than in the MLS. Free transfer? another MLS mess up.
is it me or are a bunch of MLS stars high-tailing it to Europe
@Posted by: RLW2020 | September 03, 2009 at 03:48 PM
He’s leaving on a free so, no, the Fire get 0 money for Rolfe leaving.
However, you are right that it shows the Fire are capable of finding and developing mid-upper class players for the league.
@Posted by: Fireman451 | September 03, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Sorry. I hear that argument a lot but it doesn’t hold water. A lot of these lower leagues have to qualify after winning their league to get into the CL. So playing the champ of Malta for the chance to actually play a game that will be televised isn’t quite the same as REALLY playing in the CL.
Also to the point that the only way to be ‘found’ by a big club is to play for a tiny club (yes, I know Aalborg is ‘big’ in Denmark but they are a tiny club compared to actual big clubs ie Bayern, ManU, Liverpool, Barca, Real Madrid, Milan, Inter etc) here is a two word answer that rebuts that assertion:
Jozy Altidore.
To elaborate further, he played zero minutes for a European club and was signed by one of the giants of Spanish football. He was scouted because the TV is readily available for MLS and his national team duty. (a BIG issue considering that is usually the determining factor in whether a player can get a work permit or not)
I love Rolfe and wish him luck by if we are realistic, this is largely just a payday. I don’t see it affecting his play or making him more of a factor for the World Cup. He is pretty much already out of the running for 2010 and he is already 26 going on 27 so he will be 31 by the time 2014 and if between Davies, Altidore, Jerome and a host of other young forwards we don’t have enough talent up top that we need to go to Rolfe, we’re effed.
Scandanavia has a better standard of living than in the US. And a few hundred K matters when you are only going to be a pro for around ten years.
Rolfe had/has huge amounts of potential and as Alexi Lalas has said before, he’s a poor man’s Landon Donovan. He has the great footwork and touch, patented goal-scorer, and very versatile. He’s had some pearlers in the league throughout the years, hitting random scoring streaks, and, to be honest, when he was Charlie’s age, he had more potential. If he ever plans on getting into the U.S. squad, and he has before, then a move to Europe was always the solution.
http://celtic.theoffside.com/friendlies/benfica-3-celtic-1-one-for-the-youngsters.html
“-Last night was the first start for American goalkeeper Dominic Cervi. I thought Cervi looked good and rather comfortable against some pretty good talent. He might have done better on the third goal, but there was nothing he could have done for the first two. He handled the box well and was able to distribute the ball quickly. Nice job, Big Dom!”
@EA,
He’s been capped for the WCQ. I think he even scored a goal.
I don’t have much hope for him in the MNT picture, but this will be a good experience for him. Denmark is a good jumping off point and the quality of play is better than MLS.
hey the Fire get a transfer $ and it shows that their development program works. this is a good thing for that program in the long run.. for the short run…. maybe they can bring DMB home for next year.
Scored a great goal against AC Milan back in the Soldier Field days (sigh)
He definitely has value to the US pool…not everyone has to be a starter to have value.
“Rolfe has as much or more potential than Charlie so let’s give him some space and time to show what he can do–if not 2010 then 2014. Aalborg made it into the final 16 in the Champions”
@Toby Wow where do I start. Rolfe is 26 this is his prime. He isn’t going to improve much. Davies is curently developing in lique 1 at an age 3 years younger than Rolfe.Lique 1 is where many players develop their game before going to one of the big 3 leagues. And Davies is the undisputed starting striker in the USMNT pool. He doesn’t have anywhere near the potential as Davies and really will be lucky to have any part in any world cup 2010 or 2014. And your just factually wrong about Aalborg. They placed third in their group and were dropped down to the uefa cup last year. man Utd and villareal advanced from their group.
He’s going to play in Denmark????
Cap him, cap him now!
He can start at forward, with Cooper and Adu! And Davies and Altidore, too!
Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
i think it is safe to say the MLS has come to the point in the road where they have to change course or stay the course in regards to pay. the MLS is never going to get better if we lose players like Rolfe to places like Denmark. there is no reason why the MLS cannot change its structure to allow for double the salary cap which would seriously help keep players like rolfe in the league.
i just think losing players to norway, denmark, and sweden is stupid. as a USMNT fan, i am fine with it as it works out better for the player in our current situation. but that situation needs to change if the MLS wants to get better…and as an MLS fan, I do want it to. we need to be losing players to leagues in holland, portugal, and france rather than denmark, norway, and sweden.
idk though. maybe MLS teams are still not financially stable enough to have a cap of $4-5M.
Time to clean house again at the Fire. Get rid of the Hammer and start fresh… Time to rebuild – especially since blanco and mcbride will be gone. And mapp- who is useless and slow anyway..
Good for Rolfe – one of my favorite MLS players. But yeah, maybe Chicago or another team here could have shown him the money.
Rolfe was attractive b/c he was a free transfer. I doubt any team would be willing to pay much of a transfer fee for him (more than $300K, etc.).
It’s sad to lose some limited, but decent, players, but would you choose to spend a lot of money on Rolfe if you were the Fire. Is he worth being paid more than $200K. I doubt it. They have guys that are not much worse than him that they can pay $50K to.
I remember when Rolfe got a big ol’ “international shoulder” when he played for the MNT vs. Denmark a few years back. Hope he can hack it.
Fireman451: Rolfe was not asking for DP money. As for those who think Rolfe is not USMNT material, apparently Arena thought he was when he came into the league and so did Bradley until he got shifted to midfield and lost his position. I think he will be back in contention. When Charlie Davies went to Hammerby he was very raw but the training and quality of play (yes, even in a Swedish league) helped him develop his value and he is now a key player for the USMNT. Rolfe has as much or more potential than Charlie so let’s give him some space and time to show what he can do–if not 2010 then 2014. Aalborg made it into the final 16 in the Champions League last year so they must play a pretty fair brand of soccer. I am not sure we have any MLS clubs that would do as well.