Shaqiri is expected to make his Chicago Fire FC debut next weekend. In a video call with the Swiss media, sports director Georg Heitz reveals that the Swiss national player was hesitant to be lured to Chicago.
Looking forward to the challenge in Chicago: Xherdan Shaqiri: the captain of the Swiss national team.
In a few days, Xherdan Shaqiri will begin the next phase of a football career that has been judged differently. He is no longer in Basel, Munich or Milan. Liverpool is a thing of the past, as is the Premier League, the most profitable football league in the world. Lyon and Ligue 1 are also far away.
The 30-year-old Swiss national player is now in the USA, ready for a video call with Swiss media. Next to Shaqiri sits the personified key of this personality, who made Major League Soccer palatable for Shaqiri in the prime of footballing age: Georg Heitz, the former sports director of FC Basel, who directs the sporting fortunes of the Chicago Fire FC. Chicago’s MLS season begins next weekend in Miami. Shaqiri’s debut is planned.
Say hello to your new #️⃣10, Chicago. pic.twitter.com/u0gQZNaZHr
— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) February 21, 2022
The Swiss made it clear right from the start that he didn’t want to talk about the last six months, not about the detour to France, to Lyon, where he was constantly criticized as a big earner and only rarely played. When asked, he says that he “absolutely” wanted to leave Lyon because it hadn’t been right there several times. Not even with coach Peter Bosz, “for personal and tactical reasons”. Shaqiri’s other stations can be glossed over, but not the one in Lyon. Except for the fact that he was able to maintain a respectable wage level.
Maybe from now on Shaqiri will get the warmth he missed in France. The Chicago coach is MLS-proven player Ezra Hendrickson. According to Shaqiri, it has already been agreed that he will be used in the offensive and central 10 position. According to Shaqiri, he has not yet seen much of the “huge city” of Chicago. How?
The A̶l̶p̶i̶n̶e Lake Michigan Messi. #cf97 | @XS_11official pic.twitter.com/ekiHoGhIoY
— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) February 9, 2022
Heitz says that Shaqiri’s transfer was accompanied by “hesitation”. In December, Heitz called Erdin Shaqiri, Xherdan’s brother and agent. According to Heitz, there was then radio silence for two weeks until the Shaqiri family signaled interest. The USA? Chicago? The MLS? The questions would probably have been answered in the negative if an old acquaintance hadn’t been constantly beating the drum.
