Jeff Carlisle
United States men’s national team and Lyon goalkeeper Matt Turner is poised to join the New England Revolution on loan through June 30, 2026, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.
L’Equipe first reported news of the loan, while local New England outlet The Blazing Musket first reported New England’s interest in Turner.
Turner, 31, will likely count as a Designated Player for the remainder of the 2025 season sources confirmed, though he will be eligible to not count as a DP for 2026. An official announcement could come before the end of this week, with a news conference happening as soon as Monday.
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If the deal goes through as expected, it will conclude a bizarre journey over the last few months for the American keeper. Turner has been in desperate need of playing time at club level after having made just four appearances — all in cup competitions — while on loan with Crystal Palace last season from Nottingham Forest.
The lack of playing time saw him reduced to an understudy role for the USMNT at the recently concluded Gold Cup, behind New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese.
In a bid to turn his situation around, Turner initially secured a transfer to Lyon this past June for $9.1 million, sources said.
But in the upheaval in the club’s ownership ranks as well as doubt over whether the club would be relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial issues, Lyon tried to back out of the deal and it was never officially announced.
Ultimately, Michelle Kang took over as president for John Textor, and Lyon successfully appealed to the Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG) — which governs the finances of soccer teams in France — to maintain its top-flight status.
But now it appears that Turner will return to MLS to New England with which he made his professional debut back in 2016.
The move will please U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino, who earlier this summer said the starting goalkeeping job with the USMNT was “open” due to Turner’s lack of playing time, and that he would be looking at other options.
“I think it’s true that [Turner is] not playing and we were talking with him and we translate the idea that for the future, in one year time, I think he needs to find the way to compete every week,” Pochettino said last month.
Turner seemingly came out of nowhere in terms of his rise through the professional ranks, beginning his career with the New England Revolution in 2016 after playing collegiately at Fairfield University.
By 2018, he was the starting goalkeeper for the Revs, and he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021.
He moved to Arsenal in February of 2022, but a lack of playing time there saw him secure a move to Nottingham Forest the for the 2022-23 season.
Turner began the campaign as Forest’s starting keeper, but a series of shaky performances saw him lose his spot in the lineup. The loan to Palace was secured in August of last year.
The Park Ridge, New Jersey, native made his international debut in 2021 and has gone on to make 52 appearances with the U.S., including four at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
