CHICAGO (Aug. 3, 2016) - The Chicago Fire announced Wednesday that the club has acquired striker David Arshakyan from Lithuanian A Lyga side FK Trakai. The Armenian international signed a two-year deal with club options for the third and fourth years, and will be added to the Fire roster upon receipt of his ITC and P1 Visa.
“As we tracked David, we were impressed by his winning attitude and ability to score goals in a variety of different ways,” said Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez. “He has a very good soccer IQ, imagination and obvious size. David also expressed a keen desire to join our club in particular and to help us build a championship program.”
Arshakyan began his professional career with Armenian side FC Mika in 2012 and made three Premier League appearances as his side captured the 2012-13 Armenian Super Cup.
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The 21-year-old made the move to FK Trakai of the Lithuanian A Lyga prior to the start of the 2015 season. In 34 league appearances, Arshakyan scored 25 goals and had six multi-goal games, including three hat tricks, finishing the season just three goals shy the top scorer.
This season, Arshakyan has scored nine goals in 18 appearances, including a hat trick in a 4-3 win over Utenis Utena on July 28.
Arshakyan additionally appeared in six UEFA Europa League qualifiers for Trakai, scoring five total goals including a brace against Havnar Boltfelag on July 9, 2015.
Arshakyan made his international debut for Armenia on March 29, 2016, earning the start against Denmark in the UEFA U21 Championship qualifying match.
Name: David Arshakyan
Position: Forward
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 190 Born: Aug. 16, 1994
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Citizenship: Armenia
Last Club: FK Trakai (LTU)
Acquired: Signed on Aug. 3, 2016 as a Special Discovery Player
