Chicago Fire Announces Protected Players in Advance of 2018 MLS Expansion Draft

Published on December 10, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced today its list of protected players in advance of the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft. Scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. CT, the Expansion Draft will provide FC Cincinnati with an opportunity to select up to five players in preparation for its inaugural MLS campaign in 2019.

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

Protected Players (11): Brandt Bronico, Diego Campos, Michael de Leeuw, Raheem Edwards, Fabian Herbers, Johan Kappelhof, Aleksandar Katai, Dax McCarty, Nemanja Nikolic, Matt Polster, Bastian Schweinsteiger

Automatically Protected (4): Mo Adams (Generation adidas), Drew Conner (Homegrown Player), Grant Lillard (Homegrown Player), Djordje Mihailovic (Homegrown Player)

The following players are available for selection:

Unprotected Players (11): Jonathan Campbell, Stefan Cleveland, Elliot Collier, Jorge Corrales, Nicolas Del Grecco, Nicolas Hasler, Daniel Johnson, Patrick McLain, Yura Movsisyan, Richard Sanchez, Luis Solignac

In advance of the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft, current MLS clubs were able to protect 11 players from their 2018 roster, with the five teams that had players selected by the Los Angeles Football Club in the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft exempt from this year's draft (Columbus Crew SC, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC). Since 2014, each round of expansion has involved two incoming clubs selecting from the eligible player list. Therefore, for the competitive consistency of the MLS Expansion Draft process, LAFC and FC Cincinnati are considered a single round of expansion. LAFC players will be eligible for selection this year by FC Cincinnati.

Generation adidas players (who did not graduate at the end of the 2018 season) and Homegrown Players on a club's off-budget roster are automatically protected and do not count against a team's 11 protected roster spots. Once one player has been selected from a team's unprotected roster, that team may not lose any further players.

Major League Soccer Stories from December 10, 2018

• Timbers Sign Midfielders Marvin Loria, Renzo Zambrano - Portland Timbers
• FC Cincinnati Signs Jimmy McLaughlin - FC Cincinnati
• Toronto FC Move up in Allocation Ranking - Toronto FC
• Earthquakes Acquire Allocation Money in Trade with Toronto FC - San Jose Earthquakes
• Orlando City Announces Protected List for 2018 Expansion Draft - Orlando City SC
• Chicago Fire Announces Protected Players in Advance of 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - Chicago Fire FC
• LAFC Announces List of Protected Players for 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - Los Angeles FC
• FC Cincinnati Signs Justin Hoyte - FC Cincinnati
• New York Red Bulls Announce Protected Player List - New York Red Bulls
• New England Revolution Protect Players Ahead of 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - New England Revolution
• Protected Players by Impact Listed Ahead of MLS Expansion Draft - Club de Foot Montreal
• Whitecaps FC Reveal Protected Player List for Tuesday's MLS Expansion Draft - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
• MLS and D.C. United Announce Available Players for Selection in 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - D.C. United
• Timbers Announce Roster Status Ahead of 2019 Season - Portland Timbers
• MLS Announces Available Players for Selection in 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - MLS
• New York City FC Submit Protected List for MLS Expansion Draft - New York City FC
• Dynamo Protect 11 Players Ahead of MLS Expansion Draft - Houston Dynamo FC
• Philadelphia Union Announce Protected List for 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - Philadelphia Union
• FC Dallas Announces 11 Protected Players Ahead of Tomorrow's MLS Expansion Draft - FC Dallas
• Real Salt Lake Announces 16 Protected Players in 2018 MLS Expansion Draft - Real Salt Lake
• MNUFC 2018 Expansion Draft Protected Player List Announced - Minnesota United FC
• Sounders FC Receives $50,000 in General Allocation Money from Vancouver for Rights to Andy Rose - Seattle Sounders FC
• Whitecaps FC Acquire Midfielder Andy Rose - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
• FC Cincinnati Signs Emery Welshman - FC Cincinnati
• Timbers Sign Defender Zarek Valentin to New Contract - Portland Timbers
• FC Cincinnati Signs Nazmi Albadawi - FC Cincinnati
• FC Cincinnati Signs Blake Smith - FC Cincinnati

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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