In the dream, he joined a club already playing well. The club went on to win everything. The striker was covered in glory. Everyone celebrated with a pie and some Old Style.

In the real world, apparently, Frank Klopas is making it happen. Incredible. I’m struggling to hold onto my pessimism here.

Anyway, MLS Rumors is reporting the Fire are ‘in talks’ with José de Jesús Mendoza, a 29-year-old Mexican who’s played with Club America, big Chivas, Monterrey and San Luis. Which means, naturally, that Blanco knows the guy, which I’d think would be a plus.

Of course, you never know. I certainly hope they’re asking Mr. White for his opinion (not that one typically has to ask, I understand, but still …). And as much as I’d love to provide the obligatory Web 2.0 video clips, I can’t find any of the fella.

(What that means, I have no idea. Is it a bad sign? Seems like every striker in every semi-pro league everywhere has some fan who’s edited together a highlights reel, right? I’m sure I’ve seen Señor Mendoza play, but darned if I can recall anything.)

Anyway, whaddaya think? Who will emerge up top from this gigantic striker-pile Denis is sorting through?

He’s got class, finishes well with both feet, combines well. He’s scored goals by the hatful in several leagues in Europe. And he’s Polish, which makes more than just Poles happy – everyone who remembers Nowak in ‘98 gets all tingly. So, hooray Fire!

What’s that, you say? He scored exactly ZERO goals last season for noted Euro powerhouse Wolverhampton Wanderers? He’s 33 and coming off of serious knee surgery?

To all those nay-sayers, I submit the latest in riposte technology: The YouTube compilation video.

Now don’t you feel better, sad nay-sayer? Yes? No? Is this the move to get the Fire into international play? Or is this Wanchope Part 2 – Polish Boogaloo?

Whaddaya think?

Thirteen-time Colombian league champion Millonarios said Thursday it had sold 25-year-old defender Wilman Code to the Chicago Fire, reuniting him with manager Juan Carlos Osorio.

Daniel Jankowski, the Fire’s director of media relations, would not confirm the deal and said the club would have to clear a roster spot before any singing took place.

“Something could happen tonight and something could happen tomorrow,” Jankowski said.

Osorio left Millonarios — Colombia’s most successful professional team — in July to become the Fire’s manager.

Bogota-based Millonarios said it had sold Conde for an unspecified amount and that he had signed a 16-month contract with the MLS club.

Given the Fire are already at the limit for Senior Internationals, this means someone has to go. I would guess it’ll be Thiago. Kind of a shame — the Brazilian has some talent, after all. But I’ve been saying for a while we need a new defender, and Osorio obviously thinks he’ll fit in well. Plus, he’s pretty young. Oh, and here he is scoring a goal:

Here’s his scoop and correction:

According to Fire coach Dave Sarachan, the team spoke with Chilean striker Marcelo Salas and his representatives on Wednesday.

“There’s still dialogue with his people,” Sarachan said. “We’re going to continue talking with him and his people in the next 24-48 hours to see if we can come to a conclusion.

“We hear good things from his side, but it’s going to come down to a financial offer.”

Is the team considering trading for a designated player spot to acquire Salas?

“No,” responded Sarachan without hesitation.

[CORRECTION ON SALARIES: From what the Fire tells me, the team could pay a player the maximum ($400,000) and increase that salary by using available allocation money--all without needing a second designated player spot.]

So, that’s interesting. I didn’t see the Fire signing a guy once transferred for $18 million and still only 32 without using a designated player spot, which made me seriously doubt they could get him when I saw Luis’ original Sarachan quote. But the correction makes me confident a deal can be done.

I can’t say I understand, being new to MLS, what “available allocation money” actually means, and how much of it the Fire might have. Is this similar to the Landon Donovan situation in LA? Can anyone help out a Brit? In exchange, I’ll let you know what black pudding is made of.

Picture credit: Many thanks to Fire fan Farid Andres Farias, who took the above picture with Marcelo Salas in Fire training gear on June 1st, during his visit to Toyota Park.

Interestingly, SportsYa also cites the same newspaper, and has more details, some of which are a bit alarming:

The Chilean newspaper La Tercera says that Salas is considering the offer of 1.4 million dollars the American team made to him to play for five months. This contract may bind the player from July 1 on.

However, the South American player thinks the offer is not good enough, and his manager is trying to negotiate a salary of approximately 2.6 million dollars, which is the same amount of money Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco will earn.

The key is, unsurprisingly, the amount of money Salas wants. I’m not personally too troubled by the state of AEGs bank balance, but I am concerned about what the Fire would have to give up if they need to spend Designated Player money to get him: since they would have to trade for a second Designated Player spot. Of course, MLS still being an incestuous league, AEG do handily own another spot the Fire could acquire from the Houston Dynamo. But it would still likely cost them a good young player to obtain it.

You all know how much I love rumours. So I only report them when they’re particularly juicy and have some kind of source. It’s particularly good if the source is in another language, since then I can claim all kinds of misunderstandings about the credibility of the source and meaning of the article.

Anyway, from el mercurio online:

Marcelo Salas viajó con pasajes y todos los demás gastos pagados, en una nueva demostración de los esfuerzos que el Chicago Fire está haciendo para formar una escuadra competitiva. La escuadra roja ya fichó al delantero mexicano del América Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Unfortunately my Russian is better than my Spanish (I kid you not). Here’s the obligatory Babelfish gibberish:

Marcelo Rooms traveled with passages and all the other paid expenses, in a new demonstration of the efforts that the Chicago Fire is making to form a competitive square. The red square already fichó to the Mexican forward of America White Cuauhtemoc.

So, yeah. I like the “red square” name for the Fire. Beats “The Men In Red”, anyway. Well, there you go. Nothing like unsubstantiated internet rumours. I do know Salas was released by his team in Chile, which means that (a) he is available; and (b) he’s probably not in very good shape or very good anymore. On the other hand, the Fire could use some…firepower.

Thanks to Bob Morocco at the Section 8 messageboard for the original find. He also linked the below video, which does excite me just a bit about this possibility.