Kindling the Fire: Inside Chicago’s talent factory

This week, the headline story in Chicago soccer has been the $15 million transfer of homegrown goalkeeper Gaga Slonina to Chelsea. Gaga came up through the academy and has been a huge success in the first team, emerging as one of the top goalkeeping talents in the world. He is far from the only academy graduate who has been shining over the past couple of months.

19-year-old Brian Gutiérrez has also solidified himself as an important piece for the Fire, fighting for the starting job every week. Mauricio Pineda has found a valuable role in the squad and has been a reliable option in two different positions. Meanwhile, north of the border, Pineda’s former academy team-mate Djordje Mihailovic…