A win-win situation
Newcomer torres, fire in position to help each other
During his introductory news conference Tuesday, Fire designated player Jairo Torres made it clear his goal is to play in Europe. Like new teammate Jhon Duran — also a highly coveted prospect with options when he signed — Torres sees the Fire and Major League Soccer as the right team and league to propel him across the Atlantic Ocean.
But why?
Torres, 21, departed Liga MX club Atlas to come to Chicago, leaving the reigning Mexican champion and a team in contention to retain that title. The Fire, meanwhile, haven’t won a major trophy since 2006, earned their last postseason victory in 2009 and, as of Tuesday, had a 28% chance to make the MLS playoffs this season, according to FiveThirtyEight. Their attack has been dull so far, and the Fire’s last goal through open play in an MLS match came 458 minutes ago.
The Fire hope Torres can help them start producing some offense.
‘‘He’s a player that can really change the fate of a team,’’ coach Ezra Hendrickson said. ‘‘So we’re very happy to have him and look forward to seeing great things from him.’’
MLS thinks it’s on the verge of becoming great, and it’s undoubtedly on the upswing with ambitious new owners and fancy soccer-specific stadiums popping up around the league. Still, Liga MX generally is considered a higher level, and its teams historically have dominated North American club competitions.
Yet none of that deterred Torres, a player who also aspires to represent Mexico in major international tournaments. He said MLS is watched a lot in Europe and mentioned Atlas is experiencing a ‘‘really good time’’ after past struggles.
‘‘I put it upon myself as one of my goals to come here and do good things here and basically do the things here that I did over there,’’ Torres said through a translator.
Technical director Sebastian Pelzer said the Fire’s pitch to Torres was about his potential fit on the team and how eager the coaching staff was to add him to the roster. The city of Chicago, with its large Mexican population, was a selling point, too.
Pelzer also stressed that Torres made a sporting decision to join MLS.
‘‘The league is getting better and better, and we feel it ourselves,’’ Pelzer said. ‘‘Every year, [MLS] gets better. And also the Europeans, they see it now as a better league. It’s growing, and you see also the number of transfers being made in the past. They speak for themselves, and that’s why it is an attractive league to come [to] before taking a step to Europe.’’
Torres echoed that sentiment. He said MLS has been growing for ‘‘many, many’’ years, and he wants to continue an increasingly busy pipeline from MLS to Europe.
‘‘At the end of the day, that’s everyone’s dream — to be able to go to Europe,’’ Torres said. ‘‘So it was really attractive for me, and the project that they showed me when they presented it to me was also one that I really liked and really enjoyed. And hopefully we’ll be able to put it through and see it through to the end.’’