Why Tani Oluwaseyi's potential European transfer is key for current and future CanMNT players in MLS
Could CanMNT forward Tani Oluwaseyi be heading to Europe?
His strong form for Minnesota United appears to have caught the eye of some potential suitors across the pond, as Tom Bogert reported this week that Minnesota rejected a $4 million bid from a top-half La Liga club, and that Championship clubs Preston North End and Swansea are also interested in the Canadian striker.
🇨🇦 Sources: Minnesota United rejected a bid worth north of $4m from a top-half LaLiga club for Canada int'l forward Tani Oluwaseyi, per sources
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) August 11, 2025
Bid didn't reach club's valuation
🏴 Championship clubs Preston North End & Swansea City also want Oluwaseyi https://t.co/jzggENO4wH
Of course, whenever a rumour like this comes up, a simple question is usually asked, and rightfully so - should the player make the jump?
Often, the answer is a resounding yes, and this case is no exception. Oluwaseyi isn’t young at 25, but he is still developing as a striker, and could benefit from what playing in Europe could offer him in terms of finding that next level as a player.
The only difference, however, is that he’ll need to be prudent with where he ends up, for two reasons - his age and the timing of this move.
At 25, it’s very easy to make a wrong transfer that halts a player’s development, which is why the La Liga interest stands out - that could be a bit of a risky move to make straight out of MLS. It’s not impossible to make that move, and it’s one that Oluwaseyi could very well do, but it’d be less of a soft landing than a move to the Championship or the Belgian league, for example.
To that point, that leads to the next factor worth considering in this case - it’s not a great time to take risks, at least for players like Oluwaseyi. With his exceptional form for Minnesota United, he’s become a key regular in the CanMNT fold over the past 15 months, playing 15 out of 21 games under Jesse Marsch since he took over last year, making six starts.
While he’s scored just twice and assisted twice across those 15 appearances, he’s fit nicely in Canada’s system with his work off the ball and profile on it, with the only thing remaining for him being to translate his red-hot form at the club level to Canada in terms of his final product.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 18, 2025
It's TANI TIME 😎#CanMNT are up 2-0 over Honduras 🇭🇳 at the stroke of half-time as Tani Oluwaseyi finds a near-impossible angle and smacks it home 🚀
🔴 Watch Gold Cup on OneSoccer & TSN pic.twitter.com/MfdNNc8d0c
What that all means, though, is that Oluwaseyi almost feels like a certain lock to make Canada’s World Cup squad next summer, as he arguably already feels like Marsch’s second-choice striker behind Jonathan David, and certainly isn’t lower than third on the depth chart.
Yet, that creates the dilemma around the timing of this move. In most years, the risk with making a big move is easy to ignore, and rightfully so - sometimes, as a player, the best way to improve is by diving into the deep end at a new club and seeing if you swim.
IT'S TANI TIME (to move to a new club? 👀)#CanMNT | #MNUFC | #MLS
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) August 12, 2025
▶️ https://t.co/g4ITYNaAQt pic.twitter.com/mxQ4zguBkn
Fellow CanMNT players like Tajon Buchanan, Richie Laryea and Moïse Bombito are all great examples of what this can do to you, for better or for worse.
For Buchanan, his move to Inter Milan was too big, in the end, but it opened the door for a transformative move to Villarreal, which is not a bad landing spot - he’ll now play every week for a club in a top-five league playing in the Champions League. Then, for Laryea, while he was unable to stick with Nottingham Forest, his adventure in England pushed him to be a better MLS player upon his return, helping keep him as a key regular in the CanMNT fold.
Lastly, Bombito is a great example of what can happen when you take the right risks, as his big move to Nice has played out nearly perfectly for him, pushing him to become a massive part of this Canadian team while becoming a regular at a club in a top-five league.
What that shows, however, is that making a big move can be a good way for you to find your level. Sometimes, you end up finding it at the club you move to, and sometimes, you end up elsewhere or back where you started, having collected some key lessons along the way.
With Oluwaseyi, though, that risk is different right now, given that the World Cup is less than a year away. If you make the wrong move, it can hurt your National Team stock, significantly, in the short term - just look at Buchanan, who went from surefire starter for Canada between 2021 and 2023 to a rotation piece in 2024 despite being at a club as big as Inter, as he lost his confidence and form with a lack of minutes and injuries, only regaining his starting spot this year after his initial loan to Villarreal at the beginning of 2025.
Therefore, when weighing up potential moves like this rumoured La Liga transfer, Oluwaseyi will be cautiously reading stories like that, as the last thing he’ll want to do is transfer to a club where minutes won’t be there right away, hurting his World Cup stock.
He’s not the only Canadian player feeling that way right now, either - Promise David chose to stay with Union St-Gilloise after a breakout 24-25 season that attracted big suitors, Alistair Johnston has started a third full season at Celtic despite having Premier League interest earlier in 2025, and Stephen Eustáquio looks to be set to remain at Porto.
On the flipside, others have made significant moves to alter their Canadian stock - Buchanan making a permanent move to Villarreal stands out, as does Ismaël Koné heading to Sassuolo on loan - and, of course, there’s the move Luc De Fougerolles made to go on loan in Belgium. Along with the rumours surrounding Cyle Larin’s future, there are a lot of players looking to improve their stock with moves, as they look to either crack the World Cup squad (in De Fougerolles’ case) or improve their standing in Canada’s squad (as Koné and Larin are trying to do).
As for Oluwaseyi, however, with his stock being as high as it is right now, he doesn’t face that same pressure to alter his World Cup fortunes like Koné, De Fougerolles and Larin - he instead might want a bit of stability like Promise David, Johnston or Eustáquio. If the right move materializes, then so be it, but patience can be had in his case.
To that point, though, one thing to remember with these Oluwaseyi rumours is that the player isn’t the one who nixed a move, but Minnesota, as his club rejected that initial bid for him.
On that point, that leads to another fascinating question, one that is worth diving into - how much is Oluwaseyi worth?
Certainly, Minnesota feel that he’s worth more than $4 million, and that’s fair - the transfer of Patrick Agyemang from Charlotte FC to Championship side Derby County earlier this year works in their favour, as the 24-year-old USMNT striker joined the English club for $8 million plus add-ons.
🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING: Derby County and Charlotte FC have reached an agreement in principle for USMNT forward Patrick Agyemang, per sources.
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) July 3, 2025
Deal in region of $8m + $2m bonuses. Charlotte retain sell-on clause.
Final details to be sorted but almost there pic.twitter.com/YOFcCUvbFs
Despite being the same age and a similar profile as Oluwaseyi (both are strikers born in 2000 that were drafted five picks apart in the 2022 MLS Super Draft), Agyemang cost that much despite generating 22 goals and five assists in 72 games for Charlotte, including six goals and one assist in 16 MLS games in 2025 (eight goals, two assists in all competitions).
For context, Oluwaseyi has 20 goals and 13 assists in 60 games for Minnesota, including 10 goals and eight assists in 22 MLS games in 2025 (and 12 goals, eight assists in all competitions), as he’s been more prolific than Agyemang, especially this season.
Game on in Minnesota!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 10, 2025
Tani Oluwaseyi pulls one back for @MNUFC! pic.twitter.com/hnETlHu2VO
Given that both are also internationals - Oluwaseyi has his 15 caps with Canada, while Agyemang has 12 caps for the US - it further highlights the parallels that exist between the two forwards.
When seeing that, one has to imagine that Minnesota just pointed at Agyemang when considering a minimum price point they’d like a team to pay for Oluwaseyi, which is fair given that they have him signed on a deal through 2027 with an option for 2028, meaning that they have no pressure to sell unless a fair valuation is met.
Of course, one thing worth considering in this case is the unfortunate reality of the transfer market, at least from a Canadian perspective, and that’s that American players cost more. Due to being more of an established market, one with strong marketing potential, American players can be sold for more money, and that’s been shown in MLS.
To that point, when looking at players who have left MLS, there have been 17 Americans who have been sold for $5 million or more per Transfermarkt, but just four Canadians who have commanded such a fee (Alphonso Davies, Ismaël Koné, Moïse Bombito and Tajon Buchanan).
Naturally, that’s also not a fair comparison to make, given the sheer number of American players produced in MLS compared to Canadians, especially in a league that mostly consists of American teams, but it gives an idea of why this potential Oluwaseyi transfer is so intriguing, as there isn’t much precedent for it.
Just to build off that last sentence, the fee of $4 million that Minnesota turned down for Oluwaseyi would’ve been the sixth biggest outgoing transfer for a Canadian leaving MLS (Alistair Johnston was also sold by CF Montréal for around $4 million). Then, if Minnesota were somehow able to get a team to match the $8 million that Charlotte received for Ageymang (which is a fair valuation for Oluwaseyi when comparing the pair), that would be the third biggest outgoing transfer, only behind Davies and Koné.
To be fair, to add some context to this move, consider this - in 2025, he’s already matched the best season for a Canadian under 26 years of age since the start of 2018, sitting tied with Alphonso Davies’s 2018 campaign, where he had eight goals and 10 assists. Then, when considering American players, Oluwaseyi sits on the verge of cracking the top five seasons by a domestic player under 26 years of age across that span, only behind Brandon Vazquez (26 G/A in 2022), Jésus Ferreira (24 G/A in 2022), Djordje Mihailović (21 G/A in 2024), Gyasi Zardes (19 G/A in 2018), Brian White (19 G/A in 2023) and Jeremy Ebobisse (19 G/A in 2022).
For those wondering about the decision to filter out players from before 2018, it’s just to offer more of a direct comparison to players who were moved on in this market, like Davies, Vazquez, and Mihailović, as MLS’s profile as a selling league has changed significantly in the last decade. To that point, Davies cost upwards of $15 million (understandably so, given that he was an 18-year-old winger), but Vazquez cost $9 million for CF Monterrey as a 25-year-old forward, and Mihailović just went to Toronto FC as a 26-year-old attacking midfielder.
What that further shows, however, is that Minnesota could indeed push for a fee somewhere in the region of $8 million for Oluwaseyi, as Ageymang isn’t the only direct comparable for them to use. ![[fb Charts] Tani Oluwaseyi](https://storage.googleapis.com/canpl/assets/28ebba52-196a-43c9-ba6b-b331f16470e6.png)
Oluwaseyi's 2025 MLS stats compared to his peers in the league. As seen here, he's been among the top scorers, creators and defenders among MLS forwards (FBRef)
Now, what remains to be seen is whether or not a team will be willing to pay that for his services. Certainly, from a Canadian perspective, it would be pretty good if that were to happen, as it’d perhaps help develop what still remains an untapped Canadian market, despite big growth.
As seen over the last few years, young Canadians who show promise tend to find their way to bigger clubs, but it’s been harder for those who peak a little later, especially when they come out of college or other alternative developmental systems. That’s slowly changed with the sales of players like Buchanan, Bombito and Johnston, but Oluwaseyi could help further accelerate that process.
Yet, once again, this shows why this potential transfer is so intriguing. Not only will it have a big impact on Oluwaseyi’s personal growth, but help develop the market for Canadians who are looking to be sold, which is an underrated factor. 
With the rise of the CanMNT over the last five years, and an upcoming home World Cup on the horizon, it’s only a matter of time before that market explodes, regardless, but it’s never a bad thing to help accelerate that growth in organic ways.
Certainly, one thing’s for sure - expect to see more links like this over the next 12 months, especially if players can perform the way Oluwaseyi has at the club level, as that’s ultimately the best way to dictate the market - what counts most is what occurs on the pitch, at the end of the day.
Oluwaseyi’s form has been good enough to help create this discussion, and as seen by some of the past sales of Canadians out of MLS, he could be on the verge of a transformative move off the back of what he’s done.
Because of that, look for him to keep firing in goals for Minnesota, as he looks to continue to boost his stock for both club and country.
All transfer valuations via Transfermarkt, converted from Euros to USD.
