Major League Soccer released a list of the players on whom Targeted Allocation Money has been used in 2017, a list that includes three Chicago Fire players: defender Johan Kappelhof, forward Michael de Leeuw and midfielder Dax McCarty.
Targeted Allocation Money may be used in five ways:
- Clubs may use the funds to sign a new player provided his salary and acquisition costs are more than the maximum salary budget.
- Clubs may re-sign an existing player provided he is earning more than the maximum salary budget.
- Clubs may use a portion of or all of the available Targeted Allocation Money to convert a Designated Player to a non-Designated Player by buying down his Salary Budget Charge at or below the maximum salary budget charge.