NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville SC announced the signing of forward Tyler Freeman on Tuesday. Freeman, 19, is a product of the Sporting Kansas City academy and spent the 2022 season with Loudoun United in the USL Championship, scoring eight goals in 24 games. From the club’s press release:
Nashville Soccer Club announced today it has signed attacking forward Tyler Freeman to a four-year contract.
Freeman is coming off a career-year where the 19-year-old scored eight goals in 24 appearances for Loudoun United FC of the USL Championship last season and played a 45-minute stint with Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Loudoun, an affiliate team of D.C. United, sent Freeman to the country’s capital, as Black-and-Red took on Flower City Union in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on April 19.
Freeman, a product of the Sporting Kansas City Youth Academy since age 11, became the second youngest player in Sporting Kansas City history to sign an MLS contract at the age of 15. Freeman made 35 appearances for Sporting Kansas City II during his time with the club.
At the international youth level, Freeman has represented the United States with their U-14, U-16 and U-17 national teams. He was instrumental in helping the U.S. to a second-place finish in the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship. Â
Freeman had a really solid 0.65 g+a per 96 last season in the USL Championship, and his G+ per 96 was the 9th-best of all USL strikers. I admittedly haven't watched more than a game or two of his, but he has exciting numbers on a team that has given USL signings lots of minutes. pic.twitter.com/3fk3NAln5k
— Ben Wright (@benwright) January 3, 2023
Classified as a striker by American Soccer Analysis, Freeman had the 12th-highest xG+xA per 96 numbers among USL Championship strikers, scoring or assisting a solid 0.65 goals per match. Based on Goals Added, another ASA metric used to measure how each on-field action impacts a team’s scoring chances, Freeman was the ninth-best striker in USL, comparable to players like Louisville City’s Wilson Harris or Sebastián Guenzatti of the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
A four year contract for Freeman is longer than the club normally offers, but for a young player with plenty of potential, it makes sense to lock him to a long-term deal. With the potential to see minutes for Huntsville City FC as well as Nashville’s first team, signing Freeman is a low risk, high reward pickup that could prove to be quite shrewd.
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