Ivory Coast national team attacker Jonathan Bamba is off to the United States after Major League Soccer (MLS) club Chicago Fire announced the acquisition of the winger from Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old joins Chicago as a Designated Player, a label given in MLS to a maximum of three players on each club who do not count towards the team's salary cap. This label is extended to highly paid players or players who arrive on a large transfer fee such as Lionel Messi so that MLS clubs can bring in high profile players without impacting the salary limit they are allowed to spend on players.
Chicago paid an undisclosed transfer fee to acquire Bamba from Celta Vigo and his contract runs through the 2027 MLS season with an option for the club to extend the contract through the end of the 2028 campaign.
Bamba, who made three appearances during Ivory Coast's conquest of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations hosted in the West African nation, is the star signing in a Chicago team that is currently rebuilding. Former United States national team coach Gregg Berhalter was appointed to lead the team following the 2024 season and Bamba is one of multiple signings ahead of the 2025 season. Chicago have not qualified for the MLS playoffs since the 2017 season.
The French-born player graduated from the academy of Saint-Étienne and became an important player for the club during the 2017-18 Ligue 1 season. Bamba then moved to LOSC Lille where he accumulated 29 goals and 35 assists in 200 appearances in all competitions over five seasons. He has spent the last season-and-a-half in Spain with Celta Vigo where he produced 6 goals and 3 assists in 42 matches.
Bamba will join the Fire team who are currently preparing in Florida for the upcoming MLS season that will begin on February 22 when the Fire face Columbus Crew. The club played their first preseason match on Sunday, a 1-0 defeat to Brazilian club Fortaleza, and are in action again on Saturday with another exhibition against fellow MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
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