Chicago Fire FC Announce Protected Players Ahead of 2022 MLS Expansion Draft

November 10, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Chicago Fire FC News Release

CHICAGO – Chicago Fire FC today announced its list of protected players in advance of the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft.

Scheduled to take place on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6:00 p.m. CT, the Expansion Draft will provide St. Louis CITY SC with an opportunity to select up to five players in advance of its inaugural MLS campaign in 2023. Once one player has been selected from a team’s unprotected roster, that team cannot lose any further players.

The following Chicago Fire players are exempt from selection in the Expansion Draft:

Protected Players (12): defender Rafael Czichos, forward Jhon Durán, defender Jhon Espinoza, midfielder Gaston Giménez, forward Chris Mueller, midfielder Federico Navarro, defender Miguel Navarro, defender Wyatt Omsberg, forward Kacper Przybylko, midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, defender Carlos Terán, winger Jairo Torres

Homegrown Exempt Players (11): forward Victor Bezerra, goalkeeper Chris Brady, midfielder Javier Casas Jr., midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, midfielder Alex Monis, midfielder Sergio Oregel Jr., defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, defender Andre Reynolds II, midfielder Allan Rodriguez, forward Missael Rodríguez, goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina

The following players are available for selection:

Unprotected Players (6): defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender Kendall Burks, midfielder Fabian Herbers, forward Stanislav Ivanov, goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Boris Sekulic,

The Expansion Draft eligible player list includes players from 23 MLS Clubs. All 23 Clubs had the opportunity to protect up to 12 players from their roster. Generation adidas players who have not graduated and Homegrown Players (players 25 years old and under in the year in which the Expansion Draft takes place) on a Club’s Roster at the end of the 2022 MLS Season are automatically protected. Clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them.

The following five teams that had players selected by Charlotte FC during the 2021 MLS Expansion Draft and are exempt from the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft: Austin FC, Atlanta United FC, D.C. United, LAFC, New York City FC.

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