marktci Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Link CHICAGO (AFP) - French star Zinedine Zidane, whose legendary career ended with an infamous head-butt in last year's World Cup final, has received a comeback offer from the Chicago Fire, a US newspaper reported. Fire general manager John Guppy told the Chicago Tribune newspaper that his team and rivals from Major League Soccer have been in touch with the playmaker in hopes of luring him out of retirement, but all bids have been rejected. "We reached out to Zidane," Guppy said. "But so has every other MLS club. The feedback we've all gotten is that he has retired." Guppy said the Fire also made an offer to local product Brian McBride, a US World Cup standout who Guppy said will likely remain with Fulham of the English Premiership. "We offered Brian a contract," Guppy said. "He said he would love to play in Chicago but needed to consider his options." Guppy also said a bid also failed for Swedish forward Henrik Larsson, currently on loan with Manchester United. The team is likely to look for a Polish or Mexican player to appeal to city ethnic groups that have been major supporters of the Fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex M Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Bahaha! See, this is why Beckham's move to the MLS is a bad one. Perhaps Chicago should have set a more realistic target though. Zidane would start on any team in the world. I'm sure he'd come out of retirement to play for the Fire though. It's every little Marseilliais' dream to play for the mighty Chicago Fire. Hopefully players will save the MLS from itself. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 zidane stated today he isn't coming out of retirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 This was probably nothing more than an attempt to get some free publicity. I doubt the Fire really though Zidane would come out of retirement to play for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I doubt the Fire really though Zidane would come out of retirement to play for them. It would be a joke if they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 this is a pure publicity play to show people in Chicago that they are trying to make a splash too, although it's a half hearted attempt because Zizou isn't ever going to come to America to play. I am surprised that they didn't through alot of money at McBride to come back to Chicago. he is having success in EPL but it's not like he is dominating. He was wildly popular among Fire Fans and would have been an excellent choice for that team but I guess he really wanted to continue with Fulham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAS Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by VPjr this is a pure publicity play to show people in Chicago that they are trying to make a splash too, although it's a half hearted attempt because Zizou isn't ever going to come to America to play I'm ok with this. It is not entirely about publicity, because there is always that slight chance that he could have said yes (huge money on the table + not liking how his last game eneded). Had Zidane said yes, and Chicago backtracked out of it, then yes it was a publicity stunt. In this case though, any MLS team with a chance to sign Zidane would have done so. I like that MLS teams are thinking big. The Beckham deal got everyone's attention and the word is out that there is alot of money available for the big fish - and a few of them will bite. This era is an important step in MLS's evolution and growth towards becoming a top league. With continued success, this league could eventually be full of superstar players who are playing in MLS while IN THEIR PRIME! In the meantime, I'm ok with MLS clubs increasing their phone bills by taking a few long-shots and going after superstars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktci Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 Former England International available, price negotiable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Jamit It would be a joke if they did. Exactly...like when the Cosmos actually believed they could get Pele to come out of retirement to play in some bush league back in the 70s. What were they thinking?? I don't know how respectable their offer to Zidane was but it didn't hurt for the Fire to try, did it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by KAS I like that MLS teams are thinking big. The Beckham deal got everyone's attention and the word is out that there is alot of money available for the big fish - and a few of them will bite. This era is an important step in MLS's evolution and growth towards becoming a top league. With continued success, this league could eventually be full of superstar players who are playing in MLS while IN THEIR PRIME! Been there, done that. I'm sure that was the thinking for tha NASL too. You can't build a league by attracting former superstars. MLS has been doing a fine job building from the ground up, and needs to continue on that path. Then start building reputation, quality and salaries to a point where US and Canadian MNT stars begin to stay there instead of going to Europe. THEN they can talk about attracting foreign stars - in their prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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