Report: Chicago Fire interested in signing Schweinsteiger

The Chicago Fire are reportedly looking to make, or at least try to make, a big splash in the transfer market.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated reports the Fire have expressed an interest in signing Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, the German veteran languishing with the reserves at Old Trafford as manager Jose Mourinho makes it clear he's not a part of his plans - immediate or future.

The World Cup winner, 32, has stated his intention to remain at United and fight to earn playing time, but his declaration last week that the Red Devils would be his final European club saw Major League Soccer immediately enter the conversation as a potential destination.

Related - Schweinsteiger: 'Manchester United will be my last club in Europe'

MLS' transfer window is closed, and unless United is willing to pay out the rest of his contract and make him a free agent, Schweinsteiger would have to wait until January to make a move to Toyota Park.

Chicago has endured fruitless pursuits of high-profile transfer targets in recent years, as the club was involved in the sweepstakes for the likes of Didier Drogba, Jermaine Jones, and Alejandro Bedoya.

Nabbing the former Bayern Munich man, then, would offer some optimism for the club on multiple fronts.

Schweinsteiger would, in theory, offer an injection of class into a Fire squad desperately lacking in overall talent; Veljko Paunovic's side is currently languishing in second-last place in the Eastern Conference.

Though hampered by injuries in recent years and clearly slowing physically, the success Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo have enjoyed in New York offers promise that a midfielder inching toward the end of his career can enjoy success in MLS.