Chicago Fire Acquire Andrew Gutman in Trade with Colorado Rapids, Per Report

The MLS Cup playoffs are finally over and the league’s offseason is in full swing. The Chicago Fire made another move for the 2024 squad, adding left back and Hinsdale native Andrew Gutman from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for Miguel Navarro and $450,000 in General Allocation Money, per a report from MenInRed97’s Alex Calabrese.

The Fire will send $225,000 in GAM to Colorado in both 2024 and 2025 while “maintaining 50% of the rights of Navarro should he be sold elsewhere in the future,” per Calabrese's report.

Gutman, 27, will sign a new contract with Chicago through 2026 once the trade is completed, according to MenInRed97. The left back was a member of the Fire Academy before a standout career at Indiana University from 2015-2018, winning the Hermann Trophy in 2018 as the nation’s best men’s soccer player.

Gutman had an opportunity to sign with the Chicago Fire after his career in Bloomington but instead opted for a professional route that saw him make stops (after a failed attempt to make it in Scotland) at FC Cincinnati, Atlanta United, the New York Red Bulls before joining Colorado in 2023. The Fire eventually received $200,000 GAM from FC Cincinnati after Gutman joined the side in 2019.

Since arriving in Chicago just before the world shut down in 2020, Navarro made 97 MLS appearances (81 starts) and generated just eight assists in over 7,000 minutes on the pitch. The results varied as Navarro for the presumed starting left back for the Venezuelan National Team, most notably “ending” the Fire’s 2023 season after a cynical foul on Enzo Copetti resulted in a spot kick that secured a victory for Charlotte when the Fire needed at least a point at Soldier Field.