Tanner Tessmann joins Lyon from Venezia to become French club’s first American player

United States midfielder Tanner Tessmann completed his transfer to Lyon from Venezia on Tuesday and signed a five-year contract, becoming the French team’s first American player.

Lyon said it paid the Italian club a base fee of $6 million euros ($6.7 million) for the 22-year-old Tessmann, who was captain of the U.S. Olympic team at the Paris Games.

Tessmann had joined Venezia from FC Dallas before the 2021-22 season. Along with U.S. teammate Gianluca Busio, the Alabama native helped Venezia win promotion back to Serie A.

Tessmann’s godfather is Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, who offered Tessmann a scholarship after watching him kick a 64-yard field goal at a Clemson summer camp in 2019. Tessmann stuck with soccer, though.

Lyon has lost its first two games of the season in the French league and hosts Strasbourg on Friday night.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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