Inside Tajon Buchanan’s transfer to Inter Milan, and what it means for Canada

Tajon Buchanan could not help but smile at what might come.

A little over a year ago, the then-23-year-old’s game-changing dribbling and passing ability made him Canada’s best player in the World Cup. Following Canada’s loss to Morocco to end their time in Qatar, Buchanan’s disappointed scowl gave way to hope. He knew what the soccer world had learned over his three games: he was on the rise and Club Brugge in Belgium would not be Buchanan’s final stop.

“As a player, this is what you dream of: playing on the biggest stage,” Buchanan told The Athletic with a sly grin at the Al Thumama Stadium that day. “A lot of players don’t get this opportunity. When it’s right in front of you, you want to show the world what you can do.”

The dynamic, pacey and attack-minded wide player now continues his ascent to yet another stage. With his transfer to Inter Milan, Buchanan will become the first Canadian men’s national team player to compete in Serie A.

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“It’s a team and a place that I saw myself playing at,” Buchanan said.

If the World Cup was Buchanan’s debut on the international stage, his move to Inter Milan could elevate his game and transform the Canadian men’s national team in newfound ways.

“If Canada had not been at the World Cup, (the transfer) could have been different,” said Club Brugge managing director Vincent Mannaert, who added that Inter paid a transfer fee of €8.5 million ($9.3 million, £7.3 million) for Buchanan, and that the fee could rise to between €10 to €11 million depending on certain performance bonuses. Buchanan’s contract with Inter is believed to run until 2028. Mannaert said Buchanan’s former MLS side, the New England Revolution, will receive 10 percent of the profits made by Club Brugge on the original transfer.

Buchanan was a bright spot for Canada at the World Cup. (Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)

While Inter was aware of Buchanan’s potential when he was playing in MLS, the Italian club first started genuinely tracking Buchanan for a possible transfer after Buchanan’s impressive World Cup. Per FBRef, Buchanan’s 3.2 shots created per 90 minutes was 72nd among all players at the World Cup, just ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. Buchanan led all Canadians in non-penalty expected goals and assists per 90 minutes (0.50), 40th among all World Cup players.

The first discussions regarding a transfer between Inter and Brugge occurred in the spring of 2023. But over the course of Buchanan’s season-and-a-half with Brugge, Mannaert knew Buchanan would have to further adapt to the technical side of European soccer.

“He’s lightning quick. He’s strong. He has the will to win. The main development point was the tactical side and the connectivity with his teammates,” Mannaret said.

Mannaert points out how late Buchanan began playing organized soccer compared to his teammates. But Brugge’s focus more on individual player development compared to getting results every weekend helped Buchanan round out his game.

“He was trying to win every man-to-man fight without being really connected to the other 10 players on his team,” Mannaert said. “That was a challenge for us. We needed to connect him and help him learn how to read games. The moment he was open to integrating all that information was the moment he flourished.”

Buchanan’s improved performances in last year’s Champions League group stage spoke to those efforts.

“If you see the Champions League games (Buchanan) played from the previous season, mainly against Atletico Madrid, he always had the will to run like hell but the connectivity with his teammates improved so much,” Mannaert said.

Buchanan could have moved to Inter over the summer, but injury concerns paused any move. Buchanan returned from a hamstring injury in October 2023 without missing a beat, notching two assists in his first five games back in the Jupiler Pro League.

Buchanan moving out of Brugge in the summer of 2024 also remained an option. The summer window is traditionally busier than the winter window, with European seasons finished and the willingness to rebuild squads is generally much higher. That type of move might have allowed Buchanan another six months to excel in Belgium and possibly drive up his value.

But with right-sided Netherlands international Denzel Dumfries’ contract expiring in 2025 and Colombian international Juan Cuadrado’s lingering Achilles injury and upcoming surgery, Inter Milan needed to quickly lock down a replacement.

Mannaert said Premier League sides Aston Villa and Crystal Palace also showed interest in Buchanan and discussed a possible transfer, but Inter were steadfast to get a deal across the line early in the winter transfer window.

“(Inter Milan’s) interest became very active over the last month,” Mannaert said.

This transfer differed from other transfers teams like Brugge are often involved in,in which intermediaries can play a more pivotal role. This time, Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio took over negotiations with Mannaert far earlier in the transfer process than in the past.

“When there is direct club-to-club contact, you know it’s serious,” Mannaert said. “Teams like Inter and other top teams know how we work and they know what’s behind the player and what the development process has been…At a certain point, Piero just organized contact between us and he expressed his willingness to negotiate and his ambition to get a deal done.”

Buchanan has come back strong from a hamstring injury this season (KURT DESPLENTER/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

Inter Milan had originally wanted a loan deal for Buchanan with a purchase option, but Brugge insisted on an outright sale. Buchanan’s original contract ended in 2025. Had his year in Italy not been a success, Mannaert did not want a disillusioned player with a lower transfer value returning to Belgium.

Mannaert insists Buchanan stayed calm throughout the transfer process.

“(Buchanan) was, of course, a bit disappointed because the summer window did not bring a transfer. But during the last six months, he behaved in a very professional way,” Mannaert said.

The transfer fee is broken into three parts: a fixed fee, easy-to-attain bonuses depending on things like Buchanan regularly training with the team and variable bonuses dependent on Buchanan’s performance.

“We are very clear with profiles like Tajon. The aim is to transfer him to a big league,” Mannaert said. “And so it takes away a lot of stress because in a lot of teams, you can always have a fight. If someone wants to leave a club, maybe the team doesn’t want the player to leave. We want them to leave in a good way because it’s part of our business model.”

Buchanan’s rapid ascent – Buchanan took an unconventional route by moving to Colorado at a young age to live with a coach originally from Toronto, and went to Syracuse University instead of an MLS academy – speaks to his dynamic talent. Yet also critical is the youth-driven transfer pipeline Brugge thrive on. It’s a model Mannaert said truly began in 2011 when a then 21-year-old Croatian international Ivan Perišić moved from Brugge to Borussia Dortmund for an estimated €5 million.

Buchanan is the latest in a line of young talents including Thomas Meunier and Charles De Ketelaere to move on from Brugge to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

“We have an average tenure of 24 months. We consider players that can go from us to a higher level as club ambassadors,” Mannaert said.

At Inter, Buchanan could compete for minutes in a 3-5-2 formation by using his pace in the right wingback role.

“(Inter manager) Simone Inzaghi has a set 11 players in his mind,” Franceso Albanesi, journalist at La Gazzetta dello Sport, said. “When a player comes in January, it can be difficult to adapt in a short time. But considering Inter plays Coppa Italia, Serie A and Champions League, Buchanan could end up playing a lot. In Italy, it’s a very tactical league but it’s still important to have players like Buchanan who are very good one-on-one.”

There will be plenty of demands to win that come with playing for a club like Inter Milan, which is currently top of the table in Serie A and expected to challenge for the title annually. Pressure makes diamonds, and if Canada Soccer wants their men’s team competing for trophies and not buckling as they did in the 2023 Nations League final loss to the United States, Buchanan’s move helps.

Even if Buchanan isn’t one of the more vocal leaders on the Canadian side, the expectations in Milan could lead to him heightening expectations of himself for the national team. There, he has been at his best while creating chaos with the ball. Yet if he can add more tactical discipline in Milan, he could potentially understand when it’s better to utilize those skills and when not to.

Add it up and Buchanan’s move might not just be career-changing not just for him, but for Canada, which will be looking for improved results at the Copa America this summer ahead of a co-hosting role for the 2026 World Cup.

Buchanan should now be mentioned in the same breath as Davies and David as players capable of changing Canada’s fortunes.

“(Buchanan) has gone through all the levels in his development to reach the top,” Canada interim head coach Biello said, “and is a perfect example of hard work and perseverance for young Canadians who want to reach the next level.”

(Top photo: Mattia Pistoia – Inter/Inter via Getty Images)