Philadelphia Union: Can they nab Matt Polster after the Schweinsteiger signing?

By Chuck Booth | Mar 21, 2017

Aug 20, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Chicago Fire defender Matt Polster (2) celebrates his goal against Montreal Impact during the second half at Stade Saputo. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Fire reportedly have a new midfielder in big money signing Bastian Schweinsteiger but how does this impact the Philadelphia Union?

With the Fire signing Bastian Schweinsteiger to a one-year designated player contract that guarantees him 4.5 million dollars (!) the team now has a glut of midfielders and something has to give. It’s a situation that the Philadelphia Union could take advantage of it by targeting one name, in particular, Matt Polster.

The young midfielder was drafted by the Fire in the first round of the 2015 draft with the seventh overall pick. He then went on to play two years for the team and never really caught on. While he wasn’t in a true attacking position for the team, a little more production would be expected from a player with his background. Then the summer of 2016 happened and the revamp of the Fire began.

They signed Juninho and traded for Dax McCarty effectively blocking Polster’s path to the first team. With the Schweinsteiger signing that path is as good as sealed off for the young midfielder. At 23 he’s reaching a crossroads in his career and it’s looking like he doesn’t have much of a future in Chicago.

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This is where the Philadelphia Union may be able to save his career. Even with the signing of Haris Medujanin, the Union could use a midfielder with Polster’s skill set. He’d allow the team to have lineup flexibility as well as a fall back plan for if Medujanin is deemed a failure.

The good thing for the Philadelphia Union is that Polster can likely be had for their own out of favor bench player plus a second round pick. The Fire could use a right back and Ray Gaddis is a long way off from cracking the lineup in Philadelphia. It would be a trade that could breath new life into the careers for two guys stuck to the bench while also helping each teams weakness.

Contractually the trade also makes sense for the Philadelphia Union as Gaddis is making too much in order to be a bench warmer. At a salary of over 100k, it’s an unnecessary luxury. The Fire could afford to take on the contract since they will look to use Gaddis as a starter and the second round pick will help grease the wheels on a deal.

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This is the definition of a win-win deal for each team and it could be a move that could turn both teams into playoff positions. Usually, interconference trades are tough to pull off but in this situation, it would solve important problems for each.

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