The Chicago Fire have reportedly made their first offseason addition by acquiring forward Tom Barlow from the New York Red Bulls, according to The Athletic’s Tom Bogert.
Chicago is sending up to $400,000 of General Allocation Money (GAM) to RBNY for Barlow, $250,000 of which is guaranteed. The other $150,000 in GAM is tied to performance-based incentives.
Barlow joins a forward room in Chicago that already includes Georgios Koutsias and Kacper Przybylko, all of whom scored fewer than five MLS goals in 2023.
Barlow, 28, was initially selected by RBNY in the second round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft after the St.Louis native scored 23 goals for the University of Wisconsin over his four-year career in Madison. During his time with the Badgers, Barlow played for Reading United AC, Des Moines Menace, and Chicago FC United.
Barlow bounced around between RBNY’s first team and reserves squad for the first few years of his professional career before becoming a fixture in the RBNY lineup in 2022. Barlow scored 19 goals in 40 appearances for Red Bulls II between 2018-2021 and has scored 14 goals in 123 MLS appearances with the first team.
Initial Reaction
Barlow is an incredibly useful option as a third or fourth forward who comes off the bench in MLS, but the price tag for Barlow is way too much for a player who has only scored 13 goals in 123 career MLS appearances. A major concern about Barlow is that he doesn’t finish high-quality chances with the volume one would desire. In three of Barlow’s five MLS seasons, he finished with less than half of his xG total, per fbref.
The Fire have alluded to the fact that they will be looking to add a designated player at the forward position, leaving one to assume that Kacper Przybylko — the last 28-year-old striker the Fire traded for — will be waived at some point this offseason. If not, he and Barlow will be fighting for playing time.
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