Chicago prides itself on being one of the sporting capitals of the world.
It was the setting for the legendary era of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman as part of the Chicago Bulls’ six NBA titles in the 1990s, as seen in The Last Dance docu-series on Netflix which many watched in the Covid-19 pandemic.
There is the Bears NFL team and, across the city, Wrigley Field is one of Major League Baseball’s most iconic stadiums and home to the Cubs, city rivals of the White Sox. The ice hockey team, the Blackhawks, often get big crowds.
Lagging somewhat behind, although certainly on the rise now, is the local football team. Fandom for Chicago Fire is spreading across the city at a rate not too much slower than the great fire of 1871 from which the team – and the hit US television show – takes its name.
The reason? One of the greatest strikers of his generation in Robert Lewandowski, with a helping hand from a lesser-known Englishman pulling the strings.
Daily Mail Sport was in situ at Soldier Field as the big Polishman opened his account for his new team, signing on the back of winning 10 German Bundesligas (two with Borussia Dortmund, eight with Bayern Munich), a Champions League and three La Liga titles with Barcelona.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice for Chicago Fire on his home MLS debut following his summer move from Barcelona
The man who brought him to Major League Soccer (MLS) is a 50-year-old born in Bedford, who has also held jobs as academy manager for Luton, Norwich and one of Europe’s success stories in Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt, who beat Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter this year.
Gregg Broughton, who joined as sporting director after doing the same role at Blackburn, tells Daily Mail Sport on Lewandowski: ‘Robert had been somebody the club had their eyes on for a long time. We understand how MLS works. There is a huge Polish community here in Chicago.
‘We tried to sign Neymar in January 2025, we could not get that done but he shared an agent with Lewandowski. We knew he would have his pick of clubs in Europe, in Saudi Arabia and he might have done another year at Barca. We had to make Chicago Fire his choice.
‘So our head coach Gregg Berhalter (formerly of the US national team) went to Barcelona, Robert’s wife came here for a business trip so we took her out. We sent a private jet to Barca to pick him and his representatives up, bring them here and show them the city.
‘He knows what world-class looks like, he is alongside Messi and Ronaldo, he is perfect for us. Robert is humble, easy to get on with, drives standards every day, won’t accept things being anything except everyone giving their best at every moment.’
Lewandowski’s record speaks for itself: 41 goals in 82 Lech Poznan games, 103 in 187 for Dortmund, 344 in 375 for Bayern, 120 in 193 for Barca. In 2020, he scored 55 in 47, won the Champions League and was arguably robbed of a Ballon d’Or, it being canned due to Covid.
He scored twice on his home debut on Saturday as Fire beat Charlotte FC 2-1, a team managed by ex-Aston Villa, Brentford and Leicester boss Dean Smith with several other Englishmen including midfielder Ashley Westwood, once of Villa, Burnley and Crewe Alexandra.
The 37-year-old is clearly the star attraction. Just as sport atheists would flock to watch Jordan in the 1990s, there are Lewandowski shirts across the city and a huge influx of Polish fans at Soldier Field stadium, which made for a raucous atmosphere not associated with MLS.
The forward is a mega star and the United States side worked hard to bring him to the club
‘I’m really happy to be here,’ said Lewandowski. ‘I enjoy every day: the lifestyle, the club and the organisation. Everything is really at a top level. I cannot say one bad word about the club, and I’m very impressed that everything is working very well, both on and off the pitch.’
The state-of-the-art facilities are part of the sales pitch to future transfer targets and a big reason why Chicago Fire allow teams to train at their base – Manchester United and Liverpool have done so, while Germany recently used it as their World Cup camp.
Those at the club believe seeing their base can plant a seed of thought in players’ minds ahead of a future move to MLS. Club staffers joked to Daily Mail Sport this week that it was a shame Virgil van Dijk is not on this pre-season tour for Liverpool, given his deal is up next summer.
‘Chicago is an incredible city,’ adds Broughton. ‘The training ground is incredible and that is allowing us to build a world-class club, we are building a new stadium. American sport accepts you can take five years to rebuild a squad, in Europe you don’t have that time.
‘I want to achieve on-field success and the bigger picture is I want to build upon the footprint of the World Cup and Club World Cup here in America. Twenty years ago, you never saw football shirts here – now, down by the river, they’re everywhere.
‘But we want them to be Chicago Fire shirts. This city stops to talk about sport. When the Bears got to the play-offs, the queues just to get into bars were crazy, you can’t get a ticket for love nor money. We know football can do that and the plan is to get Fire to be part of that.’
Lewandowski can certainly help.
