The USMNT midfielder will have plenty of options as his contract nears its final year
Weston McKennie’s outstanding season with Juventus has left him with plenty of options.
One year after an ill-fated loan to Leeds, McKennie has become a fixture for Juve in 2023-24. The U.S. national team midfielder has started nearly all of the club’s matches while tallying a career-high 10 assists.
McKennie’s contract with Juve expires at the end of next season, making this upcoming summer crucial to his future with the team. Juventus has been in talks with McKennie over a new contract, but may be forced to sell if a deal can’t be reached.
Calciomercato has reported that Juventus made an offer to McKennie that would maintain his annual salary of €2.5 million and extend his deal by a season or two.
That offer was rejected by McKennie’s entourage, with further talks expected in the coming days.
In the meantime, the report says that the USMNT star already has offers on the table from MLS and Saudi Arabia — two leagues with a lower standard of play than Serie A which can undoubtedly offer more lucrative financial terms.
McKennie has never played in MLS, but came up through the FC Dallas academy before moving to Schalke in 2016.
Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli is reportedly a fan of McKennie, and sees the American as an important part of the project regardless of whether head coach Massimiliano Allegri sticks around next season.
For now, it’s unclear how high Giuntoli may be willing to go. If McKennie can’t find the terms he’d like at Juventus, he’ll undoubtedly have plenty of suitors elsewhere.
“Football is entertainment for a lot of people and they just want to talk s–t about it online and have a good time”
Luca de la Torre has said his social media was flooded with angry messages from gamblers after a red card earlier this season.
The Celta Vigo midfielder was sent off midway through the second half against Alavés in September. His side was ahead 1-0 at the time of his red card, but the visitors would equalize in a match that would end 1-1.
De la Torre appeared on a recent episode of the Vamos podcast with Herculez Gomez, and detailed how he was on the receiving end of a torrent of abuse in the aftermath of his red card.
“I was sent off this season against Alavés at home,” the U.S. men’s national team midfielder said.
“And it was a game we were winning 1-0 and then we drew, so I think I messed up a lot of people’s bets on the game. And I got a couple hundred direct messages — things like, ‘kill yourself, I hope your mom dies, I hope you break your leg and you never play again.’
“I just turned off my direct messages and now I don’t see that anymore. But that’s not nice that people would lack the empathy for other people to send that type of stuff.”
In addition to turning off his direct messages, the 25-year-old said he copes with the abuse by trying not to take it to heart.
“Remembering that it’s difficult for people probably to have empathy for footballers if they haven’t played professionally like we have,” De la Torre said. “They don’t really understand what it’s like and how difficult it is. Football is entertainment for a lot of people and they just want to talk s–t about it online and have a good time. Just trying not to take things to heart or not seeing things at all I think is the best way.”
Amid an outstanding season, the American star is already in line for an extension
AC Milan is reportedly prepared to extend Christian Pulisic’s contract by one season.
According to Monday’s edition of Corriere dello Sport, Milan has already been sufficiently impressed by the American to exercise its option to extend his deal by an extra campaign.
Pulisic signed a contract through 2027 when he joined the Rossoneri from Chelsea in the summer, and he could now see his deal extended through 2028.
The report comes amid a season in which Pulisic has already set a career high for goals with 13 in all competitions, including 10 in Serie A. Only three players have more non-penalty Serie A goals than Pulisic this season, and only five have more combined goals and assists.
Corriere dello Sport called Pulisic his club’s “best summer signing,” adding that the 25-year-old is feeling settled and happy with life in Italy after spending four seasons in England.
Milan head coach Stefano Pioli was full of praise for Pulisic after his latest goal, which came in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Lecce.
“I must say that when I have video meetings to explain to a player what our path and ideas are, I’m rarely wrong about personal and character sensations,” the coach told DAZN. “Pulisic is a quality player, I already knew him. But when we spoke two or three times I heard something very positive. I saw desire and curiosity in him. I found everything I had heard.
“He’s not a guy who opens up a lot, it’s not what makes the difference but his attitude does. He has a fantastic attitude, about the team and about everyone. An exemplary worker and professional like all Milan players, this has raised the level of professionalism and seriousness that will help the group become ever stronger.”
The 23-year-old’s loan from Leeds expires at the end of the season
Brenden Aaronson has said he could see himself staying at Union Berlin for the long term.
The U.S. national team attacker is currently on a season-long loan from Leeds, with his future at the end of the season unclear.
Aaronson played just one season at Leeds before moving to Germany on loan, following the club’s relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.
The 23-year-old has struggled to find minutes for much of the season at Union, but has recently started to find his footing. Aaronson has started three straight matches and has scored two goals in the past seven, following a period of a year and a half without a club goal.
As his loan winds down to its final two months, Aaronson told Get German Football News that he is open staying at Union.
“I can see myself remaining here,” Aaronson said.
“The club is amazing. it’s not up to me at the end of the day but I have so much respect for Union, the way it has been built, the staff, it’s an amazing family club and they’ve done an amazing job.
“For me, it’s (about) making the right decision in the summer, evaluating the year and going from there. Staying is an option but I can’t say much more.”
Aaronson said he’s also been keeping a close eye on his parent club, which is in third place in the Championship as it eyes an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.
“I’ve been paying close attention to Leeds, I know a lot of the guys, I get on with a lot of them, they are good guys,” he added.
“I’ve been paying attention because they’ve been having a fantastic season so it’s been great to watch.
“They just need to keep pushing because they’ve got good things coming their way at the end of the season.”
Adams was not in uniform for the Cherries after suffering from back issues
Just when everyone thought Tyler Adams was back, the U.S. men’s national team midfielder has — at least for now — returned to the sidelines.
Adams was not in uniform as Bournemouth took on Luton Town on Saturday, marking the second straight match for the Cherries in which the USMNT star did not play.
Following the match, Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed Adams had been suffering from back spasms throughout the week.
Bournemouth would go on to lose 2-1 at Kenilworth Road after the Hatters staged a late comeback.
Adams was in uniform but did not appear in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. That match came three days after Adams stood out in a 2-1 win over Everton, playing 90 minutes for the first time in over a year.
Iraola said before the match that an unspecified malady had thrown the status of several players in doubt.
“This week is going to be difficult,” Iraola told reporters at a pre-match press conference. “We have some cases of — I don’t want to say ‘illness’ — but they are not probably feeling 100 percent, but we still have two days.
“Tomorrow they could come fresh and [if so] they are available for the game. It is true we have some players who are let’s say in doubtful conditions to perform if the game was today.”
On Friday, Bournemouth posted a gallery of photos of its team’s final training session before the clash with the Hatters, but Adams did not appear anywhere among the 70 images.
Heading into this week, Adams had been showing promising signs of finding his form instantly after an excruciating injury layoff. The New York native had effectively missed a full year after a hamstring injury required two separate surgeries.
However, he scored a brilliant goal for the USMNT in the Concacaf Nations League final, and had appeared in Bournemouth’s matches on either side of the international break.
The USMNT star scored his 13th goal of the season just six minutes in
The Christian Pulisic at No. 10 experiment didn’t take long to prove a huge success.
The U.S. men’s national team star was played at the trequartista role for AC Milan’s match against Lecce on Saturday, and he only took six minutes to find the net with an outstanding strike.
Samuel Chukwueze did some great work on the right flank before cutting a pass back to Pulisic at the top of the box. From there, the American cut onto his left foot and fired a shot that took a slight deflection on the way into the far corner.
It was the 13th goal of the season for Pulisic in all competitions, and his 10th in Serie A. Having already set a career high for total goals, the Pennsylvania native has now reached double figures in league goals for the first time in his career.
Pulisic has been used as a wide attacker in Stefano Pioli’s 4-2-3-1 setup this season, but with normal No. 10 Ruben Loftus-Cheek suspended on Saturday, Pioli gave the USMNT star the chance to play inside.
Pioli’s decision paid off quickly at the San Siro. Milan would go on to win 3-0, as Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leão added goals in a comfortable victory.
Speaking to DAZN after the game, Pioli was full of praise for his American forward.
“I must say that when I have video meetings to explain to a player what our path and ideas are, I’m rarely wrong about personal and character sensations,” the coach said. “Pulisic is a quality player, I already knew him. But when we spoke two or three times I heard something very positive. I saw desire and curiosity in him. I found everything I had heard.
“He’s not a guy who opens up a lot, it’s not what makes the difference but his attitude does. He has a fantastic attitude, about the team and about everyone. An exemplary worker and professional like all Milan players, this has raised the level of professionalism and seriousness that will help the group become ever stronger.”
The USMNT defender had played 16 straight league matches before his injury
Chris Richards is set to miss between two and three weeks with an undisclosed injury, Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has confirmed.
Richards suffered the injury in Palace’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, then missed his side’s midweek defeat to Bournemouth.
With the Eagles set to face Manchester City on Saturday and Liverpool next weekend, Glasner said at a press conference that the U.S. men’s national team defender would be out for both matches.
“We will look from day to day — one day it looks better and then the next day not so,” Glasner said.
“But I think he will miss at least the Liverpool game and then we will see. He will be out for two or three weeks.”
Prior to the Bournemouth game, Richards had gone the distance in 16 consecutive Premier League matches. After starting the season on the bench, the 24-year-old has become an ever-present for Palace — first playing as a defensive midfielder before shifting to his natural defensive position.
Richards also played the full match in both of the USMNT’s Nations League encounters last month, as Gregg Berhalter’s team beat Jamaica and Mexico to retain the title for the third straight tournament.
The USMNT star may get a shot at a new role this weekend
Christian Pulisic has excelled for AC Milan this season as a wide attacking player, but it appears he could get a shot to play as a No. 10 this weekend.
Milan will face Lecce in a Serie A match on Saturday at San Siro, with the club’s usual No. 10, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, suspended after picking up a yellow card last weekend.
That leaves head coach Stefano Pioli with a conundrum. With three in-form attacking players in Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze and Rafael Leão, Pioli could be tempted to try and fit them all into the same lineup in Loftus-Cheek’s absence.
The coach said at his pre-match press conference that he could play Pulisic as the No. 10 in his 4-2-3-1 formation, with Chukwueze and Leão on either side and Olivier Giroud at striker.
“It’s a solution we are evaluating,” said Pioli of the setup.
Chukwueze has struggled for much of his first season at Milan after a summer move from Villarreal, but the Nigeria winger has started to turn things around over the past several games.
“I am delighted with Chukwu,” Pioli said. “My collaborators showed him some videos today, and the stats we collected in the last three games are even superior to those from his time at Villarreal. He is fit, physically and mentally, he must continue like this. He has important characteristics for the attack.”
In January, Pioli indicated he’d like to try Pulisic as the No. 10 — or trequartista — at some stage, but he couldn’t at that point with Chukwueze away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
It seems like Saturday could be the time for Pulisic to play his first minutes in Milan as a trequartista.
The USMNT midfielder confirmed the incident during Tuesday’s Coppa Italia match
Juventus has said it will “take all necessary measures” after Weston McKennie confirmed he was racially abused by Lazio fans during Tuesday’s Coppa Italia match.
Video emerged on social media showing the American midfielder being targeted as he walked on the side of the pitch following his late substitution in a 2-0 Juventus win.
On Thursday, Juventus released a statement saying McKennie confirmed he had been subject to discriminatory chants from visiting Lazio fans at Allianz Stadium.
“Juventus Football Club takes note of the video circulated on social networks and reported by some media from which the intonation of discriminatory chants emerged coming from the visiting section, and directed at Weston McKennie during his substitution in the Juventus-Lazio semifinal first leg of the Italian Cup, played on April 2,” the statement said.
“Following confirmation of the incident by the player, the club communicates that it has activated all procedures aimed at verifying what happened and will fully cooperate in order to identify the persons responsible and, consequently, take all necessary measures in this regard.”
McKennie assisted Dušan Vlahović during the semifinal first leg, as Juve took a major step toward next month’s final.
The incident involving McKennie is far from the first time Lazio fans have been accused of racism recently. The club was hit with a partial stadium ban in January for racist chants toward Roma’s Romelu Lukaku, while fans brought Lecce’s Samuel Umtiti to tears early last year.
The club also has a recent history of run-ins with USMNT players, as its fans targeted Christian Pulisic with death threats last month after a game in which the American drew red cards from two Lazio players.
Vazquez tells Pro Soccer Wire about his early success with Monterrey, and his USMNT prospects
Whether he breaks through for the U.S. men’s national team or not, Brandon Vazquez seems to know things are going well for him.
His club, Monterrey, is very much in the running for Liga MX glory again, and Vazquez is playing a major role after finding goals and starts immediately following a $7.5 million winter transfer from FC Cincinnati.
Speaking to Pro Soccer Wire one day before a Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal first leg at Inter Miami, Vazquez projects the kind of calm confidence that comes when you’re scoring on the regular for one of the continent’s best teams.
The San Diego native is even ready to get the awkward questions of the USMNT — which won the Concacaf Nations League last month without him — out of the way early.
“I’m doing all I can, you know?” reasoned Vazquez. “There’s nothing more that I could be doing that could make my chances better, I guess? There’s some stuff that’s out of my control, that I can’t let bother me.
“I just have to keep the same mindset I’ve been having, stay motivated, and keep the same work ethic and routine and when my time is called upon, I’ll be ready for it.”
In March, Vazquez told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he hadn’t heard directly from Gregg Berhalter, and that he “didn’t know” where he stood in the USMNT coach’s eyes. That situation has changed, with the 25-year-old confirming that Berhalter gave him a call just before the Nations League roster was announced.
“The day before that roster came out, Gregg Berhalter had called me,” Vazquez said, anticipating the question before it even arrived. “[He] basically told me that they were really happy with my performances, that I have been a killer in the box, that I’ve been doing great, have been killing it down here.
“He had called me to let me know and give me a heads up that I wasn’t going to be on the roster, which I respect quite a lot.”
Per Vazquez, Berhalter’s message was “to keep it up, because they’ve been watching all my games, and to not lose motivation because of it … it gives me a bit of confidence.”
Discussing the U.S. setback barely dampens Vazquez’s mood, because things are going quite well with Monterrey.
Even as he and Germán Berterame have sometimes been rotated as Los Rayados‘ starting No. 9, Vazquez has been an instant hit in Mexico. In 820 minutes across Liga MX and Concacaf Champions Cup play, Vazquez has put up eight goals, making him Monterrey’s leading scorer in a season that could end in a double.
Even with Monterrey suffering just one loss this season — Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat against Chivas snapped a 16-match unbeaten start to the campaign — and his own red-hot form in front of goal, Vazquez says he feels like he’s still trying to get used to his new surroundings.
(Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images)
“It’s a little bit of a complicated one, because I still feel like I am adjusting,” Vazquez admitted, balancing the evidence of his and the team’s strong run with things he knows can improve. “Getting to know your teammates and their habits, that takes a while to adjust to, but my teammates have found me in the box. The runs that I’ve made, they are starting to get those pretty well.
“I try to make clear for the teammates around me what I like, where I like the ball, what runs I’m usually making, and they’ve been doing a great job at putting the ball there for me. All I’ve had to do is just hit the back of the net.”
Much has been made of the differences between American and Mexican soccer, whether that be training structure, tactics, or granular details like injury prevention and nutrition. For Vazquez, the job is to make “the same dish, with a different recipe.”
“Obviously with different coaches, you have different training sessions, different drills, different warm-ups,” explained Vazquez. “Everything is a bit different, but at the same time, a bit the same.”
Amid the big professional change, Vazquez is also a new father, with his wife Jessie giving birth to a son, Luca, in February. Vazquez can’t help but break into a grin at the thought, but in the short term, he’s on his own in Monterrey.
“My family and my newborn is still in Cincinnati,” said Vazquez. “We’re waiting to get some vaccines and my baby’s passport for them to travel down.”
Vazquez has made it up to visit twice, taking advantage of the Concacaf Champions Cup bracket putting Monterrey on a collision course with FC Cincinnati, as well as the international window, to make the trek.
Vazquez admitted that it’s been tough to be separated, but joked that there’s at least a silver lining: He’s getting to sleep.
“I have been missing my family for the past couple months, but from what I’ve heard, I would have no sleep if my newborn was down there.”
Vazquez talks Inter Miami clash
In the meantime, Vazquez has his work, which on Wednesday means suiting up against Inter Miami. The striker admits that Monterrey isn’t immune to the potential once-in-a-lifetime nature of a competitive game against the stars on the Herons’ roster.
“I think everybody has it in the back of their mind,” conceded Vazquez. “There’s so much hype around this team, there’s so much limelight on this team.
“We’re not only playing against a good team, but everything that goes around it — all the attention, all the media that’s around it. You just have to stay focused on the job and be able to perform on the field when you step out onto the pitch.
“I think we have we have an amazing group here. So I have no doubt that we can get the job done.”
Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
Monterrey tends to do just that in the Champions Cup, winning the tournament five times in the last 13 years. Vazquez called the prospect of adding a continental trophy to his resumé “incredible,” and expressed belief in Los Rayados‘ chances of making it six trophies out of 14.
“There’s a lot of history in this club with this tournament, and a lot of trophies won here,” said Vazquez. “We know that we’re capable of doing it. We have the players to do it, and we’ve done it plenty of times before. So, we have an expectation, a high demand on ourselves to be able to get to the final, be able to win this trophy.
“We know we can do it. We’d be the only people in our way. If we just do what we know how to do, the quality of our players will just take over.”
It’s a recurring theme for Vazquez, whose attitude towards his very unusual occupation often comes across like any grounded person working in a field they enjoy.
“You just have to focus on the step in front of you,” concluded Vazquez. “We just have to take it one game at a time, one step at a time, and just focus on getting the job done 90 minutes at a time.”
