Why iconic Polish striker Robert Lewandowski chose the Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire made a move that sent shock waves through the MLS.

Robert Lewandowski, who has scored more than 700 goals for his national team and top European clubs, has joined the Fire. It wasn't just a shock to the soccer world, it was a big move for Lewandowski.

"For me, for my family, the new big step was to move out from Europe, but we know that we want to get some new experience," Lewandowski said during an introduction on Tuesday. "We had to be ready for everything for the next move."

Why did the Polish striker move his European skill set to the United States and the MLS? He explained during his introduction on Tuesday.

What they're saying:

Moving to the MLS wasn't an easy decision.

Lewandowski said he spoke with former European teammates like Xherdan Shaqiri and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and other colleagues with MLS experience like Thomas Müller.

He wanted to know how it's going in the MLS, how the league looks and what kind of differences they see. They all had something to contribute, but the bottom line was that Lewandowski got a glowing endorsement of the league.

"They told me that it's amazing," Lewandowski said. "Not only as a club for the training, but also for the family."

Choosing to play in Chicago was a different decision.

Lewandowski said he was visiting Chicago when in the midst of making his decision. The weather will fluctuate a bit, especially considering the differences in winter and summer. But, the city struck him in a different way. There was a connection to his home country.

"When I came here like a couple of weeks ago, I was impressed how it looks – not only the capacity of the club, but also the city, the people," Lewandowski said. "I know that a lot of Polish people are living in Chicago. A lot. It means also for me, for my family, that I can meet Polish people is also something interesting and I know that for them it's so important because it's the connection between the USA or Chicago and Poland that is very, very important."

According to the Polish National Alliance, the Chicagoland area is home to the largest Polish metropolitan community outside of Poland. Nearly 900,000 people of Polish ancestry live in the Chicagoland area. Furthermore, roughly 930,000 residents of Polish descent live in the state of Illinois, which is about 10 percent of the state's population.

"I also already saw a lot of warm welcome from the people on the street," Lewandowski said. "That makes me more happy for sure."

What's next:

Now, it all depends on how Fire Director of Football and head coach Gregg Berhalter wants to deploy Lewandowski tactically.

There will be some learning curves. For Lewandowski, one of the adjustments is the sport's name in America.

"I don't know why you call it soccer," Lewandowski said. "It's football."

Still, Lewandowski is not concerned about where the team will have him play.

"Tactically for me, it's not a problem," Lewandowski said. "The most important thing if you're going to win the game."

Berhalter is confident in wherever Lewandowski plays. In the end, he wants to measure Lewandowski's tenure in Chicago by the success that comes to the team.

"We want to create something special for the city of Chicago. And Robert is a massive piece of that," Berhalter said. "Robert's won his entire career, and there's going to be a certain measurement. OK, did we win with him? Everywhere he's been, he's won titles. He told me every year of his career, he has won a title. So no pressure to us, right? And then finally, knowing Robert the way I do, success is largely measured with him by how he scores goals. He's a prolific scorer for a reason, because he loves to score goals. So that's definitely going to a measurement that we're going to looking at."