Brian McBride Back to the MLS... but where?

Brian McBride has said goodbye to Fulham who, after cutting Carlos Bocanegra last week, may have to get on with only three Americans next year. Nothing is final yet (still) but reports keep coming out that McBride wants to come back to the MLS to close out his career. In the words of his brother/agent Matthew McBride (I wish my brother and I worked that well together), "He's a Chicago guy." He wants the Fire - and the Fire want him - but what does the league want?

For a refresher, the way the MLS is set up, player contracts for every team are handled by the league and have to fit under precise salary cap and allocation rules (except when, you know, they change the rules instead). Right now, Toronto FC is at the top of the allocation list, and they would have the first crack at McBride. TFC famously had trouble finding the back of the net last year... imagine McBride running alongside fan favorite Danny Dichio at the top? Imagine how loud the 20,000 at BMO Field would be if they actually had something to cheer about? And interest of course extends beyond Chicago and Toronto - notably, McBride's former team, the league-leading Columbus Crew, have also expressed interest in a reunion.

But as Soccernet's Steve Davis writes, Chicago is the obvious best fit for McBride, and a deal needs to happen to get him there. Davis even suggests that MLS could step in and make sure he lands there (and there is a precedent for such an intervention). Time will tell where he lands, but a Chicago Fire team with Blanco and McBride would be a highlight reel waiting to happen every time they take the field from here up to the MLS Cup, even if he's aged a little bit from his depiction as a 10 year old in Backyard Soccer: MLS Edition.