The Fire have reportedly brought back a familiar face in Bakary Soumare. Soumare, now twenty-seven years of age, will fill a void in the Chicago back-line, after being acquired from the Philadelphia Union squad that defeated the Fire 1-0 twice in the past two weeks. Philadelphia will be paying for most of Soumare’s salary, according to a SoccerByIves report.
The Fire will send their second round pick in the 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft and a small amount of allocation money (money that may be spent on payroll, and payroll only, and does not count against the salary cap restrictions). The Fire defense has been decimated in the early season by injuries – Arne Friedrich and Steven Kinney are both sidelined – and by disciplinary actions as Wells Thompson has received red cards twice this season after only having done so once before in his MLS career.
In his previous stint with the Fire from 2007 to 2009, Soumare played in sixty-three matched over the course of the three seasons, playing very respectable defense without a goal to his credit offensively. Soumare’s career then brought his overseas to the second divisions in France (where he scored the only two goals of his professional career) and Germany, before finding a new home in Philadelphia last season. Soumare has played in four matches with the Union.
Soumare was named to the MLS Best XI in 2008 and the All-Star team in 2009, both while with the Fire.
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