U.S. international Ante Razov is returning to MLS’s Chicago Fire less than a year after leaving as a free agent to sign with Spanish Second Division club Racing Ferrol. Razov, who was acquired by Chicago in March 1998 as a discovery player, joins the Fire this season as a replacement for injured marquee player Josh Wolff. The Fire is also using its allocation received for losing Razov after last season to reacquire the L.A. native for future seasons. Here is what Razov had to say about his return: Opening remarks: “I am very excited to be back at the Fire. I would like to thank the Fire organization first of all, coaches, general manager, and MLS. I am very excited to be back and to come to a quality team like that is something really good and something I was looking forward to.” On off-season: “I went and looked at a couple of teams and there were a lot of things I had to look for. You have to look for a team that is in a stable situation. Obviously you are looking at the offer as to what kind of team it is. With the World Cup year coming up it was critical that I would be on a team where I would play, I would be comfortable, and where I could get myself a better chance to make the World Cup roster. I didn’t want to put myself in a situation where I might be at a big team and was the third or fourth striker and not get too many games. I have seen a lot of guys who have taken a lot of big money, but also it hurt them in their international career, so I think a lot of things went into it.” On his European experience: “Europe is everything I thought it would be. If you get into the right situation over there it’s the “Mecca” of soccer. Not to take anything away from the MLS, but I just did not find the right situation for me at this time. MLS is a very appealing place for me. At this point in time the best situation for me was to rejoin MLS and the Chicago Fire. On whether he was looking to join another MLS team: “No, the obvious choice for me was going to Chicago.” On his fitness level “The last full game I played was in Mexico a month ago, but I was in Europe for 10 days and did get a good week’s worth of work. Like Bob said, we are going to sit down and talk a little bit. I think I will be able to contribute some minutes, but 90 minutes I would be putting myself out there risking injury. I don’t think anybody wants to do that right now.” On the competition at the forward positions for the Fire: “I think if there is no competition then your team probably isn’t doing too well. I think competition more than anything keeps everyone at their best. I would expect nothing less.”