TRANSFER TRACKER STATUS: Signing
Chicago Fire FC have acquired defender Jonathan Dean from USL Championship side Birmingham Legion, the club announced Thursday.
Dean is now under contract with the Fire through the 2023 MLS season with club options for 2024 and 2025. The 25-year-old projects as offering right-back depth behind Arnaud Souquet after Chicago acquired the Frenchman from Ligue 1 side Montpellier HSC earlier this week.
“We started following Jonathan closely last summer and we are excited to welcome him to the Chicago Fire,” sporting director Georg Heitz said in a release. “He will bring a healthy competition to our outside back group and provide the team with much-needed depth in the upcoming season.”
Dean joins Chicago after spending the past three seasons with Birmingham, where he recorded four goals and 16 assists in 85 matches across all competitions. The Georgia native placed on the 2022 USL Championship All-League Second Team.
Dean, who was picked 39th overall (second round) by Orlando City SC in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas, played college soccer at Wofford College before transferring to the University of Central Florida.
Chicago are entering their second season under head coach Ezra Hendrickson, eyeing their first Audi MLS Cup Playoffs trip since 2017. They’ll start their new season on Matchday 2 when hosting New York City FC (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
READ MORE: MLS Transfer Tracker presented by Avant
