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ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez questioned growing speculation linking USMNT midfielder Malik Tillman with a move to Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, saying such a transfer would be "a massive jump" for the 23-year-old.
Tillman was among the Eredivisie’s best players last season, contributing to 21 goals as PSV Eindhoven won the league title in a stunning comeback.
"There’s a massive jump from PSV to that Leverkusen," Gomez said on the Futbol Americas podcast. "Not just the Bundesliga but that Leverkusen. He’s got Bundesliga ties - used to be with Bayern Munich - so there seems to be natural thing. And he’s proven himself at the levels he’s been given the chance to prove himself. Rangers, PSV. He was PSV’s best player last season...
"With the USMNT, he’s just started breaking out. And he’s had his chances, he’s had plenty of chances but this is his coming out party. I don’t if he’s ready for that big of a jump to a club like Leverkusen - or at least the last version of what we saw Leverkusen to be, it remains to be seen because it’s not Xabi Alonso anymore. But if it’s that version of Leverkusen, I think the jump may be too big. But he’s ready to test himself, I know that for sure and you can see the evolution."
Gomez noted that Tillman has played well at the club level, but not for the USMNT - at least until this year's Gold Cup, in which he scored his first three international goals to help the team top the group.
“At the club level, he seems to be really flourishing,” Gomez said. “So I’d like to separate it from the national team level and keep it at the club level. But he’s advanced everywhere he’s been... I said he would have double digit goals and assists, and he was that player for two straight seasons... But he keeps progressing, so I’d like to think that there is an appropriate jump for him. But I just don’t think that Bayer Leverkusen or Erik ten Hag is that jump.”
WHAT KASEY KELLER SAID
Kasey Keller, who earned 102 caps for the USMNT, echoed Gomez’s comments, noting Tillman's best performances have come against less-talented teams in the Gold Cup.
"I don’t think he's quite to the Leverkusen level but sometimes you don’t know until you get there," he said. "I also agree with Herc 100 percent when you talk about the matches that he’s come out against - I don’t even know how to describe that Trinidad side. Then against a Saudi who was OK, and then a Haiti that pushed them all the way.
“Yeah, I’m not seeing maybe the player to really get super excited about, I’m happy that he’s performed when we have a very inexperienced side at the moment. And you need your more experienced players to show up, particularly in those moments. So I think that’s been great. But you’re still looking at a USMNT that hasn’t beaten a European side since 2021. I didn’t see Malik Tilman have some phenomenal games against Turkey and Switzerland."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Tillman's career trajectory has accelerated following his permanent move to PSV from Bayern Munich, where he has since been named Eredivisie Player of the Season and has finally begun delivering consistent performances for the national team.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The USMNT is set to face Costa Rica on Sunday in the Gold Cup quarterfianls at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.