The Chicago Fire have signed forward Tidiana Diawara to an MLS Next Pro contract, the club announced today. He will feature for Fire II this season.
Diawara, who hails from the Parisian suburb Évry-Courcouronnes, turns 21 this spring. He has spent his entire career in the French lower leagues, most recently playing with the second team of Stade Lavallois. Prior to Laval, who are currently playing in the French fifth tier, Diawara played for AJ Auxerre B and ESA Linas-Montlhéry. He also spent time in Olympique Lyonnais' academy.
“Tidiane is a young player with a European academy background experience, and we’re excited to welcome him into our system,” Chicago Fire FC II head coach Mike Matkovich said Thursday in a press release. “We look forward (to) watching his progress in MLS NEXT Pro.”
Diawara is an outside-the-box signing for Fire II, who have often gone to fairly random markets for players over the years. Diawara joins Jack Sandmeyer and Mateo Clark as additions from elsewhere to the second team this winter. The second team also signed goalkeeper Nemo to an initial MLS Next Pro deal as the only other new signing of the offseason.
Throughout his career, Diawara has primarily played as a center forward. He is a largely unknown quantity, coming from such a low level in the French footballing pyramid, but he appears to have decent hold-up play and defensive work rate.
Notably, Diawara shares an agent with Fire first team midfielder Djé D'Avilla. This relationship likely facilitated the move, as the Championnat National 3 is not exactly on the Fire's scouting radar.
Diawara scored three goals this season for Laval in eight matches. He joined Laval in October after leaving Auxerre. Diawara is a citizen of both Mali and France.
