Anton Tinnerholm leaves NYCFC

It’s official: Anton Tinnerholm and New York City FC will part ways.

The right-back is at the end of his contract with NYCFC, and the 31-year-old defender will return to his native Sweden and play for his former club Malmö FF according to an announcement the club issued earlier today.

This confirms an earlier report that Tinnerholm was set to return home and play for Malmö. The popular right-back is a new father, and according to an interview published in the Swedish outlet Expressen, he felt it was time to leave New York City so that he and his wife could live close to family and friends.

Tinnerholm’s guaranteed compensation was $800,000 in 2022, placing him among the ten highest-compensated active roster players in the club.

Tinnerholm has been one of the most important players signed in the short history of NYCFC. Since joining the squad ahead of the 2018 season, Tinnerholm featured in 119 games, and started 111 of those. His intelligence and doggedness made him one of the best right-backs in MLS, and his offensive abilities allowed NYCFC to develop the free-flowing attacking style that makes them one of the most entertaining and successful teams in the league.

In his piece for Hudson River Blue, Andrew Leigh wrote “The Swede brought a new dimension to NYCFC, creating goals and assists from right back while not sacrificing defensive solidity. He was durable and productive, and it wasn’t much of a Hot Take to say he was the best right back in MLS during his first four seasons in New York. He was, as our friends over at The Outfield like to say, good at soccer.”

NYCFC posted this video in which Tinnerholm explains his decision to return to his family.

We appreciate the sincerity of the message, and everything that TinnerBOOM has done for this club. We hope Tinnerholm finds more success when he returns to play in Malmö, and we wish the best for him and his family.

Update: @NYCFC posted the following video to Twitter, and we’re all in.