Football General Manager
- Turner’s move to Lyon was reportedly declined
- Lalas called the situation "a problem" for Turner
- Turner’s agent must help find a solution
Addressing what is reportedly a failed transfer to Lyon for Matt Turner, Alexi Lalas suggested the best path for the USMNT goalkeeper to get consistent playing time is to return to MLS. Ligue 1 side Lyon are reportedly looking into canceling their anticipated $9.42 million move for the goalkeeper.
“The guy just needs to play,” Lalas said on his State of the Union podcast. “Maybe this is another moment where the soccer gods are saying, ‘Hey, find an MLS team and you’re not going to deal with all of these problems.’ But this is a problem for him. Obviously they have bigger problems when it comes to the actual team and trying to figure out a figure all this out. But certainly not something that Matt Turner needed at this point.”
The former USMNT defender also suggested that Turner’s representatives need to help find a viable solution quickly.
“I hope Matt Turner and his agent had thought about these types of situations from a competitive standpoint,” he said. “Just because you’re moving to another team doesn’t mean it solves the problem of you not playing, especially when you’re a goalkeeper… So this agent is going to earn his or her money, trying to figure out a way to either make this work or get out of the deal – but then also have to do a new deal and go someplace else. But not a good situation for Matt Turner.”
Since joining leaving the New England Revolution in 2022, Matt Turner has made only 32 appearances across all competitions for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
Turner remains under contract at Nottingham Forest, but is behind current first-choice Matz Sels, with a move to Olympique Lyon reportedly up in the air.