Gianluca Busio has become the latest young American to make the jump from MLS to Europe, as Sporting Kansas City agreed to transfer him to Serie A side Venezia FC.
NEWS: #SportingKC transfers @gbusio13 to Serie A side @VeneziaFC_EN in club-record deal.
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) August 5, 2021
: https://t.co/XP06LDEGaG pic.twitter.com/ftHznrKJWN
Long rumored to be moving to Italy, thanks in large part to his Italian passport, Busio becomes the second USMNT player to make a transfer abroad following their Gold Cup performances. He closely follows on the footsteps of Sam Vines, who is moving to Royal Antwerp in Belgium. Busio is also the second American to make a move to Venezia FC this summer, after FC Dallas product Tanner Tessmann, the godson of Clemson Tigers head football coach, inked a deal with the Italian club.
The move is a record deal for Sporting Kansas City and with the deal likely to exceed $10 million as well as a sell-on clause, it is not an insignificant payout for Venezia either. The club was recently promoted to the Italian top flight and would obviously like to hang around. Whether Tessmann and Busio found their places thanks to the American ownership of the club remains to be seen, but regardless, one would assume that at this point both players will need to earn their keep like the others on the roster.
Busio is far from a fully developed player, but this move to Serie A gives him an exciting opportunity to continue that development. Despite logging 3,000+ MLS minutes over the last 2.5 years, he is still just 19 years old so there is plenty of time for him to develop.
What do you think about this move? Good opportunity for Busio to continue to develop or a risky proposition for a player who had found a consistent role in MLS? Hit the comments and let us know.