The Chicago Stars have hired former Norway women's national team head coach Martin Sjögren for the same role, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.
Sources said they expected Sjögren to join Chicago ahead of the 2026 NWSL season in January, as he is currently the coach of Hammarby in the Damallsvenskan, the top flight of women's soccer in Sweden.
The Swedish season ends in November, days before the NWSL Championship and Hammarby will compete in the play-in rounds of the UEFA Women's Champions League later this month.
Chicago currently sits in 13th place in the 14-team NWSL with 11 games left to play this season, with Ella Masar currently overseeing the team as Chicago's interim head coach -- the team's third coach this season.
Lorne Donaldson was fired as coach in late April after guiding Chicago to the playoffs last year. At the time, assistant coach Masaki Hemmi took over as interim head coach. Hemmi, however, left the club in early July to become head coach of Lexington SC in the USL Super League, another first-division women's league in the United States.
Sjögren has coached extensively in the club game in his native Sweden and is best known for his time as head coach of Norway's women's national team. He oversaw Norway for nearly six years from 2016-2022, including for a quarterfinal appearance at the 2019 World Cup.
Norway failed to progress out of the group stage at the 2017 and 2022 European Championships under Sjögren and he resigned after the 2022 tournament.
Sjögren became coach of Hammarby in January 2024 and they finished third in the league last year to qualify for the play-in stages of the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The Stars have won only once in 15 games this season. They sit 2 points above the Utah Royals at the bottom of the NWSL table.