Was today the final appearance in a Chicago Fire shirt for Bastian Schweinsteiger? Does his stint in MLS end with a goalless draw against former Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney and D.C. United?
No one can say for certain right now, not even the German midfielder himself.
“I have to think about, a little bit and have some talks, and we will see, yes or no,” he responded when asked if he’s going to/wants to come back for a third season in Bridgeview, Illinois.
Schweinsteiger couldn’t give a definitive time table on when he might make his decision either.
“Last year also, I took my time off and made my decision then, so let’s see,” he added.
His first year in Chicago was quite successful. The team finished with the third best record in the MLS and reached the playoffs. This year however was a total disaster as the Fire ended up second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference.
“The season was not easy because we had many injured players from the beginning,” said Schweinsteiger.
“Then, when you’re missing some main keys in your game, it affects it a little bit, it’s not as easy then to play with different players through the whole season. Still, we were always close in some games, we didn’t lose many games by far. It was not that teams really dominated us.”
“The mentality of this team and the character, we never gave up, that was good to see. But of course, you could see throughout the season, it was not a coincidence that we are where we are.”
Schweinsteiger is the Fire’s highest-paid player by a very wide margin, making $6.1 million per season. He’s also the fourth-highest paid player in Major League Soccer.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.