Nashville SC sign forward Tyler Freeman

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.  

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.

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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.

Author: Ben Wrightis the Director of Soccer Content and a Senior MLS Contributor for Broadway Sports covering Nashville SC and the US National Team. Previously Ben was the editor and a founder of Speedway Soccer, where he has covered Nashville SC and their time in USL before journeying to Major League Soccer since 2018. Raised in Louisville, KY Ben grew up playing before a knee injury ended his competitive career. When he is not talking soccer he is probably producing music, drinking coffee or hanging out with his wife and kids. Mastodon

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