Corentin Tolisso

Corentin Tolisso (born 3 August 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lyon.
A graduate of the Lyon academy, Tolisso made his professional debut for the club in 2013, playing 160 matches and scoring 29 goals. He joined Bayern Munich for €41.5 million in the summer of 2017, a record for a transfer to a German club, before returning to Lyon in 2022.
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, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020.
Club career
Early career
Tolisso started out with local clubs near his birthplace of Tarare and hometown of Amplepuis. Before becoming a tough-tackling, probing midfielder, he used to play as a forward. Tolisso even scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 draw against his future club Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 11. He then signed up for Lyon's academy in 2007 at the age of 13.
Lyon
2013–2016 seasons
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. 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. A week later, Tolisso signed his first professional contract with the club, penning a deal until 2017. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
2016–17 season
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.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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. He was also named in the UEFA Europa League squad of the season.
Bayern Munich
2017–18 season
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. 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. 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.
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. He then scored on his Bundesliga debut on 18 August, netting Bayern's second goal in a 3–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. On 5 December 2017, with qualification to the Champions League knockout stages already secured, Tolisso netted a brace in 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. On 3 April 2018, he scored a thumping long-range goal to double the lead in a 4–0 away victory over SC Freiburg.
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.
2018–19 season
Tolisso started the season as a World Cup champion after winning the title with France. On Matchday 3 in the Bundesliga, Tolisso ruptured a cruciate ligament in his right knee in a 3–1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, September 15. Following the injury, France national team coach Didier Deschamps was convinced that Tolisso will "come back as strong, if not even stronger". He also believes that the 2019 season will be "much better for you". During Bayern's winter trip training in January 2019 in Doha, Qatar, Tolisso was reported to be able to jog on an anti-gravity treadmill without any problems. He was set to return to the pitch in March 2019, which, according to Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovač, was "earlier than expected".
2019–20 season
He made a total of 28 appearances and scored four goals in the 2019–20 treble winning season. He came on as a second half substitute in the UCL final in a 1–0 win over Paris Saint-Germain.
2020–21 season
On 21 October 2020, Tolisso scored a stunning goal in a 4–0 win against Atlético Madrid in the first match of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stages.
2021–22 season
On 30 May 2022, Bayern announced that Tolisso was to leave the club after the end of the season.
Return to Lyon
On 1 July 2022, Lyon confirmed Tolisso's return to the club on a five-year deal until 2027.
International career
Though born in France, and having represented the nation at various youth levels, including the U21 side with whom he was the captain, Tolisso was also eligible to represent Togo through his paternal lineage. In 2016, Togo manager Claude Le Roy revealed that he would try to convince Tolisso to represent the nation instead of France. Tolisso had previously acknowledged his ties to Togo but was loyal to France, stating that "I was born here and grew up here."
Having previously represented France at various youth levels, Tolisso was called up to the senior squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017. He made his debut on 28 March 2017 against the latter, starting the game and being replaced by Thomas Lemar in the 80th minute of a 2–0 friendly home loss.
On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He played for the first 78 minutes and was later subbed off in a 2–1 victory over Australia in their first group stage match on 16 June. Tolisso did not play the last two group stage matches against Peru and Denmark. On 30 June, he replaced Blaise Matuidi in the 75th minute in a 4–3 victory over Argentina in the round of 16 match. On 6 July, Tolisso started the quarter-final match against Uruguay and provided an assist to Antoine Griezmann's goal which saw France advance following a 2–0 victory. He was subbed on to replace Matuidi in the 86th minute in a 1–0 semi-final victory over Belgium on 10 July. On 15 July, Tolisso appeared in the 73rd minute, again replacing Matuidi, as France defeated Croatia 4–2 in the final, to win their second World Cup title. On 17 November 2019, Tolisso scored his first goal for France in a 2–0 win against Albania, during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification.
Career statistics
Club
International
As of match played 23 June 2021. France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Tolisso goal.
Honours
Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
DFB-Pokal: 2018–19, 2019–20
DFL-Supercup: 2017, 2020, 2021
UEFA Champions League: 2019–20
UEFA Super Cup: 2020
FIFA Club World Cup: 2020
France
FIFA World Cup: 2018
Individual
UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2016–17
Bundesliga Goal of the Month: January 2022
Orders
Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2018
References
External links
Profile at the Olympique Lyonnais website
1994 births
Living people
People from Tarare
Footballers from Rhône (department)
French men's footballers
French sportspeople of Togolese descent
Black French sportspeople
Men's association football midfielders
Olympique Lyonnais players
FC Bayern Munich footballers
Ligue 1 players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Champions League winning players
France men's youth international footballers
France men's under-21 international footballers
France men's international footballers
2018 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2020 players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
French expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
French expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Association football people awarded knighthoods