Macdonald waiting to play — somewhere else
The prospect of playing in the friendly against Club América on Wednesday at Toyota Park has done nothing to temper the mounting frustration for Fire striker Sherjill MacDonald.
MacDonald, who occupies a designated-player spot (it allows teams to sign highpriced players by counting only a portion of their salary toward the salary cap) and is the highest-paid player on the team, hasn’t started since April 27 at Montreal. Since then, the Dutch import has been relegated to reserve duty and often isn’t used in games.
He has yet to score this season and hasn’t come close to fulfilling the expectations Fire president of soccer op- erations Javier Leon had when he signed MacDonald.
“At this point, if I play, I play. If I don’t play, I don’t really care anymore,” MacDonald said. “I mean, I want to play. But if they don’t choose me, I’m OK. I feel like we have to get a solution quick because I try to stay positive, but sometimes it’s difficult.”
The Fire has the option to loan MacDonald. He said he has received a number of calls from teams in Belgium, but he still has four months left on his contract.
It’s unclear what Leon has planned for MacDonald, but a loan could prove tricky. With such little time left on MacDonald’s deal, it’s unlikely a team would want to pay a large sum to acquire him.
Whether he is loaned to another team or leaves at the end of his contract, MacDonald has made it clear he won’t be staying in Chicago much longer.
“I’m still going to be a teammate,” MacDonald said. “But for me, I’m just waiting for another opportunity to come up so I can just leave. It’s not that I don’t like it here. I like it here. But obviously if you don’t play enough, for me, there’s no point to stay.”