Xherdan Shaqiri has revealed his disappointment at not making the MLS Cup Playoffs during his first season with the Chicago Fire.

The Switzerland international joined the Fire from Ligue 1 giants Lyon in February, going on to score seven goals and provide six primary assists in 29 regular season appearances.

However, Shaqiri was unable to guide Chicago into the Playoffs, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference and missing out on the post-season for the 11th time in 13 years.

Unsurprisingly for a player with the likes of Bayern Munich, Inter, and Liverpool on his CV, Shaqiri is looking for more next year.

“I arrived with a lot of ambition and I wanted to go to the Playoffs and we didn’t achieve our goal of what we wanted or what I wanted to. Yeah, it was not the season that we wanted, we need to get better and try to achieve our goals for sure next season,” Shaqiri told reporters at a virtual press conference.

“We have to make sure everything is right with what we have to do. I’m sure we’re going to do it next year. The most important thing is to be more constant and to make better performances. I’m sure we will achieve our goals.”

“You can see MLS is growing more and more”

– Shaqiri

With a year under his belt, Shaqiri has had more than enough time to evaluate the quality on show in Major League Soccer.

If reports are to be believed, that quality will get a significant boost in the new year with Lionel Messi looking like to join Inter Miami.

Shaqiri believes signings like this still have their place in helping MLS develop, but the 31-year-old also praised the number of clubs looking to develop younger players.

“You know, you can see MLS is growing more and more. And more good players [are] coming from Europe to MLS,” said Shaqiri. “The league is getting better with these kinds of players.

“The teams are investing in younger players now. It’s not like before, at 35, 36, the old players came to make holidays in America. Now it’s changed, so the good players are coming now, and they are coming in their prime and trying to achieve something there, too.

“This is a good step also for the league and for the country. I’m really looking forward to more and more players coming to the league to make teams better, the league better. It’s also more interesting and [more] competition for everybody.”

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