USMNT prospect Tessmann reportedly on verge of Lyon transfer
U.S. men's Olympic midfielder Tanner Tessmann is reportedly on the brink of a move to Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyon.
L'Equipe and ESPN both reported on Saturday that Lyon had acquired Tessmann in a transfer from Venezia, with the U.S. men's national team prospect off to France for a physical in the hopes of an official announcement on Sunday. The French outlet listed the fee at €6 million, while ESPN maintained that the deal would see Venezia receive €7 million.
Either way, a move to Ligue 1 would end the Tessmann transfer saga before the summer window closes. The Texan had been linked to a prospective move to Italian champions Inter, only for the move to collapse in July over various disagreements over the particulars. Pro Soccer Wire reported that Everton and Feyenoord had submitted offers, while Venezia last week said that the 22-year-old was "out of the project" at the recently-promoted Serie A club.
Tessmann is coming off of a superb season in Serie B, where he appeared in 42 games and scored seven times, including a spectacular strike in Venezia's promotion playoff win over Palermo. Starting alongside fellow U.S. Olympian Gianluca Busio in the Venezia midfield, Tessmann only sat out one league game last season, and that was due to a yellow-card accumulation suspension.
High risk/high reward move for Tessmann's USMNT future
At Lyon, Tessmann will face a battle for playing time, though perhaps not as difficult a path to minutes as he might have been up against at Inter.
Ex-Chelsea and Manchester United No. 6 Nemanja Matić joined Lyon in January, while Belgium midfielder Orel Mangala was brought in from Nottingham Forest last month in a €23.4 million transfer. Former France midfielder Corentin Tolisso is the club's vice-captain, while Maxence Caqueret has 171 appearances since emerging from Lyon's academy in 2018.
Should Tessmann quickly adapt to life in France and secure regular minutes, he is expected to be in the mix for USMNT minutes in the months to come. However, Tessmann must make sure to impress rumored new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose evaluation of the entire U.S. player pool may contain some surprises.
With Tyler Adams out for an unknown period of time after back surgery, Tessmann likely needs to beat out Johnny Cardoso and Luca de la Torre to add to his two senior caps. There is additional competition in the form of Aidan Morris, who is first-choice at Middlesbrough since his move away from the Columbus Crew, and Heidenheim destroyer Lennard Maloney.