BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Uruguayan international midfielder Arévalo Ríos trained with the Chicago Fire for the first time Friday morning after lengthy negotiations saw the club reportedly reach a loan agreement with Italian side Palermo, which would allow the 2010 FIFA World Cup veteran to join the Fire through the end of 2013.

Though the club will have to wait on the clearance of an international roster spot before he can play, the 31-year-old box-to-box midfielder is expected to join the team as a Designated Player with the club also reportedly holding an option on his contract..

Long linked to the Fire, Ríos (who has earned 46 caps for Uruguay) showed excitement to come to Chicago after indicating that conversations to do so began prior to June’s FIFA Confederations Cup.

READ: Rios arrives at Toyota Park Friday

“It was a long way to walk,” he told reporters post-training on Friday. "Since the tournament, I knew I wanted to come here and I was excited about it.

“There were conversations that we had to get through with Palermo. I felt support from the technical staff here, they never quit, they got through the block from Palermo, Javier [Leon] and Guillermo [Petrei] kept pushing and finally I’m here.”