Several Italian clubs have targeted American midfielder Tanner Tessmann this summer, but it now looks like he could reportedly move to France.
Lyon is in talks to acquire Tessmann in a permanent deal from Serie A side Venezia, L’Equipe reported Thursday. Tessmann has already agreed to sign a five-year deal with the Ligue 1 side, according to the report.
ESPN has also confirmed the reported interest from Lyon in Tessmann. Lyon is currently owned by American billionaire John Textor.
Tessmann originally looked set to join Inter Milan earlier this summer from Venezia, but a loan destination couldn’t be agreed upon for the 2024-25 campaign. Fiorentina and Torino have also expressed interest in Tessmann in recent weeks.
The former FC Dallas academy player was a key part of Venezia’s promotion back to Serie A last season through the promotion playoffs. Tessmann scored seven goals and added three assists in 42 combined appearances, eventually earning his spot on the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team this summer.
He featured in all four of the USMNT’s matches in Paris, France this summer.
Lyon suffered a 3-0 loss to Rennes in its Ligue 1 opener last weekend and could use midfield reinforcements for the season.
Seems like a good move for Tessman. Lyon is traditionally in the mix for a CL spot in France and a 5 year deal would pretty much set him up well financially if he is careful with his money. And living in what has been called the culinary capital of France can’t be bad.
This is exciting for him! Lyon is a move to celebrate.
France is an athletic and technical league. These seem to be very much a match for Tessman. If his size, speed and strength combination match well with his passing and engine, he could very well excel in this Lyon squad. AND there will be a number of fixtures for him to get game opportunities since Lyon is in the Europa League as well. Hoping the American billionaires can work out a fair valuation for the youngin’.
Since I always start with soccernomics when determining the profile of a club, in terms of bankroll Lyon’s a fairly big deal. They’re the #4 team in France for payroll spending at around €52 million Euros, or just short of $57 million dollars US – basically dead-even with Monaco, who are the #3 team by a hair. So we’re talking an expensive squad, significantly more expensive even than Inter Miami, who have $41 million in salaries on their books with Messi & Co. now on their roster. FWIW….Marseille is #2 at €73 million, and way off in a different stratosphere is PSG, who is on a cheap year by their standards, with only €231 million in total payroll on their books, more than three times Marseille’s. Gotta love that European competitive parity.
The rest of the Ligue 1 is pretty much indistinguishable from MLS in terms of payroll. So Tessmann is taking a big step up in team profile, but if he can start or garner significant minutes for Lyon he should absolutely be effective in the league itself. This is an incremental move for him, not a massive leap up, and those sorts of moves tend to be more successful than just throwing someone in the deep end and seeing if they can swim.
Agreed. I do not think it’s a big move BUT OL are a “big” club. They are a step up AND they seem to be the right next move for him; much more so than Inter and the shenanigans that were involved there.
There are better athletes in France. Ligue Un are more competitively balanced. There is also less emphasis on positional play and tactics than Italy.
All of this could mean better competition with athletes of improved caliber, matches against 8-9 competitive sides (instead of 6) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, Euro football and more eyes watching g him for the next move/fit.
If he gets 70 matches I. The run up to the FWC, this could go a long way to providing depth and competition for the 6 and/or 8 in Poch’s system.