Gaga Slonina is set to officially become a member of Chelsea FC, on January 1, having now completed his Chicago Fire career. Slonina missed the last two games of the Fire’s miserable, and I really do mean miserable (although still not as terrible as DC United’s campaign), season due to a head injury. Slonina, 18, last featured in a 3-2 home loss to FC Charlotte on Sept. 17.
In between the Fire and Chelsea portions of his career, the homegrown shot-stopper will see action at the United States Men’s National Team pre-World Cup training camp. The Addison native was among nine players on teams already eliminated from the Major League Soccer season/postseason invited to fitness training by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Players will continue to be added once their clubs are eliminated, ahead of the national team’s World Cup roster announcement date, which is set for Nov. 9. The World Cup roster will be comprised mostly of players from top European clubs.
The Addison, IL native debuted for the Chicago Fire on August 4 2021, becoming the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to start a match and earn a shutout, when he kept a clean sheet against then reigning champion New York City FC.
His agent reached agreement, back in August, on a transfer to Chelsea, with the stipulation he be loaned back to the Fire for the remainder of the 2022 MLS season. His transfer fee of $10 million (first reported here) set a new record for the sale of a Fire player.
This will be the third international call-up for Gaga Slonina, who joined the USMNT for training camp before the World Cup qualifiers in January and February. His first senior call-up came in December 2021. Prior to being called to the senior USMNT, Slonina had represented the U.S. Youth National Teams at the U-14, U-17 and U-20 level.
The four USA goalkeepers in the mix for the World Cup positions are Matt Turner of Arsenal, Zack Steffen of Middlesbrough, Ethan Horvath of Luton and Sean Johnson of New York City. At this point, the No. 1 position is most likely Turner’s to lose.
Gaga Slonina finished the 2022 MLS season registering the third-most clean sheets in the League (12).
USA Training Camp Roster
Goalkeepers: Gaga Slonina (Chicago)
Defenders: Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville), DeAndre Yedlin (Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)
Midfielder: Cristian Roldan (Seattle)
Forwards: Paul Arriola (Dallas), Jesus Ferreira (Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle)
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.