USMNT’s Tanner Tessmann signs for Serie A side Venezia

Another USMNT youngster, and yet another FC Dallas product, is heading to Europe as Tanner Tessmann has signed for Venezia in Italy’s Serie A.

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Tessman, 19, has signed a contract with the Serie A new boys and follows in the footsteps of Weston McKennie, Bryan Reynolds and Chris Richards in heading to Europe after coming through the FC Dallas academy.

A midfielder, Tessmann was called up by the USMNT in January for the first time and College Football fans out there will be intrigued to hear the Birmingham, Alabama native is the godson of Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney.

Tessmann was offered a scholarship to be a kicker at Clemson, but it seems like he’s made a pretty good call to stick to the other type of football…

FC Dallas continue impressive MLS to Europe pipeline

Tessmann thanked FC Dallas for allowing him to move to Europe and had the following to say about his development in their academy.

“Ever since I came to the academy at 14 years old, FC Dallas was developing me, honing my skills and making me a better young man. I knew an opportunity like this would be possible and it was always in the back of my mind, only because FC Dallas was there,” Tessmann said. “I’m excited for this new experience. It’s going to be a good journey. This is not a goodbye. It’s an ‘I’ll see you soon’.”

Tessmann will have a legitimate chance of regular minutes in his first season at Venezia, and this looks like a very good landing spot for him. They are an ambitious club based in Venice and have put faith in young talent to get promotion to Serie A.

With McKennie heading to Schalke initially and now starring at Juventus, plus Richards impressing at Bayern Munich and on loan in the Bundesliga, plus Reynolds thought of highly at Roma, the Dallas to Europe pipeline is incredibly impressive.

The likes of Philadelphia Union and the New York Red Bulls have also had plenty of success in developing youngsters who have been bought by top European clubs in recent years (Tyler Adams, Matt Miazga, Brendan Aaronson et al.).

But any young American player hoping to head to Europe will surely try their best to be accepted in to FC Dallas’ academy, such is their growing reputation as the top producer of young talent among MLS academy outfits.

USMNT youngsters stock rising across top European leagues

There is a wider trend at work here. Given that Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, McKennie and Adams have all performed at an extremely high level in Europe over the last few years, the perception of young American players is changing.

USMNT youngsters are getting chances to shine in Europe where previously they found it hard to break in and respect levels for young American players is through the roof.

Add in the fact that plenty of European clubs are struggling for cash and players based in MLS are fairly cheap to purchase, there is a real opportunity for young USMNT products to head to Europe over the next 12-18 months.

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