Corentin Tolisso

Corentin Tolisso (born 3 August 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for German club Bayern Munich and the France national team.

A graduate of the Lyon academy, he made his professional debut for the club in 2013 and played 160 matches and scored 29 goals. He joined Bayern Munich for €41.5 million in the summer of 2017, a record for a transfer to a German club.

Tolisso represented France at various youth levels before making his senior debut in 2017. He was part of their squad that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Early career
Tolisso started out with local clubs near his birthplace of Tarare and hometown of Amplepuis.[3] Before becoming as a tough-tackling, probing midfielder, he used to play as a forward.[3] Tolisso even scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 draw against his future club Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 11.[3] He then signed up for Lyon's academy in 2007 at the age of 13.[3][4]

2013–2016 seasons
Tolisso playing for Lyon in 2015

On 10 August 2013, manager Rémi Garde handed Tolisso his debut for the club, bringing him on as 92nd minute substitute in a 4–0 Ligue 1 home win over Nice, but he could not even touch the ball for once as the referee blew the whistle few seconds later.[5][3] He made his European club competition debut on 24 October 2013, featuring in a 1–0 win over HNK Rijeka in the group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.[6] A week later, Tolisso signed his first professional contract with the club, penning a deal until 2017.[7] On 9 March 2014, he scored his first senior career goal with an injury time (in the 94th minute) winner to give Lyon a 2–1 Ligue 1 away win over Bordeaux.[8] Tolisso was used as a utility player for the majority of the season, operating at right back in place of Mouhamadou Dabo and later in central midfield following injuries to Yoann Gourcuff and Gueïda Fofana.[9]

The continued absence of Fofana and subsequent injury to Clément Grenier afforded Tolisso the opportunity to enjoy more first team action with Lyon in the following season. During the 2014–15 season he featured in every Ligue 1 match for the side, netting seven goals.[10] At the end of the season Tolisso and teammates Nabil Fekir and Anthony Lopes were rewarded with improved contracts, penning new deals with the club until 2020.[11] He continued his fine form into the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season where he netted five goals and set up six assists as Lyon ended the Ligue 1 season as runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain.[12]

2016–17 season
Tolisso playing for Lyon in 2016

Tolisso's form in the previous season earned him numerous suitors from around Europe and in July 2016 he was subject to a €37.5 million bid from Serie A side Napoli. He turned down the move and reaffirmed his commitment to Lyon, however, citing his affection for the club and belief in their progress as his reasons for staying at the club.[13]

He made his first appearance of the season in the 2016 Trophée des Champions on 6 August 2016 where Lyon were beaten 4–1 by reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain. Tolisso himself found the back of the net in the 87th minute but the goal proved to be no more than a consolation.[14] Tolisso scored his first Ligue 1 goal of the season on 27 August, opening the scoring in a 4–2 away loss to Dijon, and his first ever goal (in the 13th minute) in a UEFA club competition on 14 September in a 3–0 UEFA Champions League group stage home win over Dinamo Zagreb.[15][16]

On 2 October 2016, with regular captain Maxime Gonalons and vice-captain Alexandre Lacazette injured, Tolisso was handed the armband in their stead and captained Lyon in the first ever Rhône derby against Saint-Étienne at Lyon's new stadium, Parc Olympique Lyonnais.[17] In the return fixture on 5 February, Tolisso received the first red card of his career after being sent off for a foul on Fabien Lemoine in stoppage-time. Just moments before Tolisso's expulsion, Lyon teammate Rachid Ghezzal had been sent off as well for a challenge on the same player. The ill-discipline shown in Lyon's loss to Saint-Étienne prompted club president Jean-Michel Aulas to announce that both players would be severely punished for their actions.[18] Tolisso remained a constant fixture in the side, however, and ended the 2016–17 season with a return of 14 goals and seven assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for Lyon.[19] He was also named in the UEFA Europa League squad of the season.[20]

2017–18 season
‹ The template Wikinews is being considered for merging. › On 14 June 2017, Bundesliga side Bayern Munich secured the signing of Tolisso on a five-year deal from Lyon for an initial transfer fee of €41.5 million, plus up to €6 million in potential bonuses.[21][22][23] The fee was the largest ever received by Lyon from the sale of a player, though this record was again broken on 5 July 2017 by the transfer of Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal for a fee of €53 million.[23][24] It was also a Bundesliga and Bayern record for a signing, surpassing the previous record of €40 million that the club spent in buying Javi Martínez from Athletic Bilbao in August 2012.[25][26]

He made his debut for the club on 5 August, starting in a penalty shoot-out victory over Borussia Dortmund which saw Bayern crowned Supercup champions.[27] He then scored on his Bundesliga debut on 18 August, netting Bayern's second goal in a 3–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.[28] On 5 December 2017, with qualification to the Champions League knockout stages already secured, Tolisso netted a brace in the Bayern's final group match to earn the club a 3–1 win over PSG; though the result was not enough to see Bayern claim top spot.[29] On 3 April 2018, he scored a thumping long-range goal to double the lead in a 4–0 away victory over SC Freiburg.[30]

On 7 April, Tolisso equalised as Bayern came from behind to defeat FC Augsburg 4–1 and win the league title with five games remaining.[31]