Xherdan Shaqiri joins Chicago from Lyon

And so paths cross again. When Georg Heitz started working as head of sport at FC Basel in 2009, a 17-year-old footballer soon appeared on the scene, who from then on was considered a magic dwarf. In July 2009, the magic dwarf named Xherdan Shaqiri made his debut in the Super League, in 2010 FCB won the championship title, and Shaqiri traveled to the World Cup. 2011: the next championship title. 2012: the next championship title – and Shaqiri traveled to Munich to stay in Bayern.

And now Shaqiri and Heitz are meeting again, in Chicago, in Major League Soccer (MLS), where – so it is said – footballers settle down at the end of their careers. Heitz, eight-time champion with FCB, is now in charge of the sporting fortunes of the Chicago Fire; Shaqiri is moving from Lyon to overseas with immediate effect, with billionaire Joe Mansueto’s club paying a transfer fee of 6.7 million euros.

It is the next departure of the 100-time Swiss national player. Shaqiri has traveled and stayed again and again, but one wondered where he found happiness too. Why should he be happy in Chicago?

Shaqiri went from Bayern to Inter Milan, from Inter to Stoke City, from Stoke to Liverpool FC, from Liverpool to Lyon. He only made this last move, from England to France, last summer, the Ligue 1 club praised him as a special achievement – ​​and the crazy thing is: Shaqiri is somehow special, too.

He went ahead and enjoyed it

He is a special footballer with league titles in Switzerland, Germany and England; with Liverpool and FC Bayern he won the Champions League, in a supporting role, but in big teams with big coaches, Jürgen Klopp and Jupp Heynckes; after the 2010 World Cup he took part in four other finals and always scored at least one goal.

And the magic dwarf, who had always seemed a bit like a rascal, seemed to have finally matured. It was evident in interviews with the national team last year – and in the pride with which he led the selection as captain through the World Cup qualifying autumn. Shaqiri led the way and enjoyed being allowed to lead.

And there was just this transfer to Lyon in August 2021. A sensible step back, it seemed, away from the greats Liverpool FC, who were happy to sign Shaqiri in 2018 but weren’t necessarily waiting for him. After all, offensive players like Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mané were also in the squad.

At Olympique Lyon, the competition seemed tighter – yet Shaqiri made just 9 starts on 19 occasions in the league. He only played once in the league between early November and early January – and on that single occasion he promptly provided an assist. It was a 2-2 draw with Bordeaux when they were still under the guidance of long-time Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic.

The liaison between him and Petkovic represents the inscrutability of this character, Shaqiri. There was a period when Petkovic and Shaqiri seemed to have grown apart, although everyone knew how important Shaqiri is to the Swiss squad when he feels healthy and understood. When there was a lot to be clarified in 2019, Petkovic said of Shaqiri: “I love him and will always love him.”

Perhaps Shaqiri has heard these words too seldom, a footballer with his qualities, with these magical dwarf genes. No love story unfolded in Lyon either, and as if Shaqiri had learned that in this business it is not worth waiting too long for great feelings, he breaks out again after six months.

A change like an insight

This change reads like the insight that Shaqiri can no longer find a suitable place in a big league, no club that is not too small for him, but not too big either. Shaqiri is said to have answered a first request from sports director Heitz at the end of 2021 in the negative, but later he was still willing to negotiate. Chicago is a big city, but maybe Heitz makes everything a little smaller for Shaqiri. Not only does he know Shaqiri’s strengths and quirks from hearsay, he’s seen and nurtured them, he knows Shaqiri’s family and background.

Some will see this club choice as a relegation, especially with a view to the World Cup at the end of 2022. In the ideal of the Swiss national coach Murat Yakin, Shaqiri would have gained playing practice in a leading European league. Memories are awakened of Blerim Dzemaili, who also went to the MLS in 2017, to Montreal – and half a year before the 2018 World Cup switched back to Serie A, to Bologna.

Anyone who works in the MLS speaks strongly, like Heitz in the NZZ interview in December when he said: “I think the MLS will gain more weight globally, not immediately, but maybe after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.” On the other hand, there is the saying that football has been the sport of the future in the USA for years – and always will be.

Yes, why would Shaqiri be happy in Chicago?

Maybe because he gets more match practice than in Lyon. And because he gets what he likes best. The new Chicago coach Ezra Hendrickson may never say: “I love him and will always love him” – but Shaqiri comes as the designated number 1, with the status he seeks. In his understanding, Shaqiri has been a follower too often in his career. In Chicago, there is a mutual expectation that this is not the case – and the years of acquaintance between Heitz and the Shaqiri family should guarantee that the parties did not misunderstand each other in the negotiations.

And Shaqiri should also have become aware of the conditions under which he is moving forward. With Heitz and now-sacked coach Raphael Wicky, the Chicago Fire twice missed the playoffs; Shaqiri is said to lead the way by leading the club forward.

It may be that this transfer heralds the end of a great Swiss football career – the last big deal, but never again England or Germany, so a different kind of big deal. The decisive factor is how Shaqiri understands this step: whether he simply feels flattered that he is important and valuable enough to billionaire Mansueto for a contract until 2024. Or whether he sees it as an opportunity to arrive in an environment that is further away from Basel than any other so far – and thanks to Heitz somehow seems closer.