Mbekezeli Mbokazi's agent, Basia Michaels of QT Sports, told ESPN that the 20-year-old will be unable to complete a transfer away from Chicago Fire FC this season, as his injury is worse than initially thought.
Left-footed centre-back Mbokazi suffered a tear to his left thigh in training that was initially expected to keep him out for two months. However, the prognosis has changed and Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed he is now out for the rest of the Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign.
"Mbo being out for the year is a tough one," Berhalter told Apple TV. "It's really about the next person stepping up and being a team that's hard to score on. Closing the spaces, being compact.
"We're working on that now, and I think today you're going to see that."
Michaels confirmed that Mbokazi would likely not be able to take to a football field until December.
"He is undergoing surgery in Finland. He does need surgery because the tear is a lot more extensive than originally thought," Michaels told ESPN.
"It's a minimum of 3-4 months recovery. There's no club that would take him if he can't pass a medical and he can't pass a medical right now."
ESPN understands Mbokazi was generating preliminary interest from Nottingham Forest - as well as clubs in Italy and Belgium.
If Mbokazi were to spend three to four months focused solely on recovery, then the only way Chicago Fire could theoretically use him again would be if they rushed him through training and threw him in the deep end during the playoffs in November and December -- a move which the club appears to have decided would likely not be worth the risk.
The Fire paid around $3 million to sign Mbokazi from Orlando Pirates in December 2025 on a four-year contract with an additional optional year. Berhalter had confirmed to ESPN that they would have been willing to let the 20-year-old depart if they received an offer which they considered to be fair value.
There is no indication that any possible deal was at an advanced stage, but a move is now off the table until next year.
