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Bastian Schweinsteiger spotted meeting with Chicago Fire coach Veljko Paunovic

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:07 p.m. ET

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With Bastian Schweinsteiger frozen out at Manchester United, the question lately has been where the German midfielder will go now. MLS has often been floated as an option, but now it appears to be a legitimate possibility.

Schweinsteiger was spotted by the Express leaving a restaurant in Manchester after an apparent meeting with Chicago Fire coach Veljko Paunovic this week. According to the reports, they had a four-hour lunch and the Fire front office would not confirm the meeting, but did say Paunovic is in Europe scouting.

Reports out of Germany have suggested he will be leaving Man United when the January transfer window opens up, and the Fire wouldn’t be a bad landing spot for the 32-year-old. Schweinsteiger is at the latter stage in his career but still seems to have plenty to offer, despite Jose Mourinho giving him zero first-team minutes this season so far.

The former Bayern Munich star has been linked with the Fire before, but up until this point the reports came from speculation and unsourced rumbling on blogs. Now, there is some pretty undeniable proof that Schweinsteiger is on the Fire's radar and vice versa.

If the Fire do work something out to bring Schweinsteiger, it will probably need to be one move among many. The Fire need a lot of work, and while Schweinsteiger would be a good defensive piece in the central midfield, they need to find a playmaker in front of him. The Fire were the dubious winners of the "Wooden Spoon" this season, and they came in last place last year, too.

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