The Chicago Fire announced that Philip Zinckernagel will be a Designated Player for the Chicago Fire for the remainder of 2026 after signing a new contract with the club. His new deal runs through the end of the 2027-2028 season.
The move helps the Fire from a salary cap standpoint, as they are committed to the 3 Designated Player/3 Under-22 Initiative model for the rest of 2026. As a Designated Player, the Danish winger's salary hits the Fire's salary cap at a fixed, lower number than his previous $1.6 million salary plus transfer fee would have.
The move comes amidst a hectic transfer deadline day for Gregg Berhalter, which has seen the Fire make eight moves within the past 72 hours, including the confirmed arrivals of Anzor Mekvabishvili, Johan Gómez, and Andreas Hanche-Olsen.
In July, the Fire switched away from a 4 Under-22/2 Designated Player model due to Robert Lewandowski's arrival. At that point, the team had with three DPs, with Jonathan Bamba and Hugo Cuypers on the designation alongside Lewandowski. It was temporary: Cuypers handed in a transfer request shortly after the change, leaving the Fire committed to the DP roster construction model and with an open DP slot that would ultimately not have been filled this window.
Zinckernagel's new contract is a deserved one, after he performed at a DP level in 2025. The Danish winger contributed 15 goals and 15 assists in 2025, statistically the best individual season in Fire history. Zinckernagel has five goals and eight assists in 20 league appearances to date in 2026 and has been an MLS All-Star in both of his seasons in the league.
It has been a busy end to the transfer window for the Fire. In addition to the three signings, they expect to complete the signing of Inter Miami left back Noah Allen this afternoon, and have already cleared four players from the roster in the last 72 hours with the departures of Joel Waterman and Jason Shokalook, and loans of Dylan Borso, and Viktor Radojević.
The MLS transfer window closes at midnight Central Time tonight.
