Juventus really seemed to want Weston McKennie out last summer.
After the midfielder returned from an ill-fated loan at Leeds, he got a rather frosty welcome back to the Serie A giants.
Juventus reportedly told McKennie that he wasn’t in the club’s plans for the 2023-24 season. The American midfielder himself has said “I came back and I felt like nobody really cared.”
But that level of dismissal went one step further apparently. According to U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter, McKennie didn’t even have a place to park or change in Turin when he arrived for preseason.
“Weston was in a situation where he went back to Juventus after the summer and he didn’t have a locker and he didn’t have a parking spot,” Berhalter said on a conference call Wednesday after naming his Nations League roster.
But as we all know now, things turned around quickly for McKennie. First he earned his way into manager Max Allegri’s plans for the season, then he became a regular starter. Now, as the season enters its final months, McKennie is one of the first names on the teamsheet and reportedly nearing a contract extension.
Berhalter was full of praise for the 25-year-old, who is now second in the Serie A assist charts after a two-assist performance over the weekend.
“Most players would say ‘OK, I’m done. I’m leaving this club. It’s not for me,'” Berhalter said.
“And Weston said, ‘I’m going to dig and I’m going to prove that I belong.’ And he’s done not only that, but he’s proven to be one of the best players of Juventus this year and one of the top midfielders in all Serie A.
“So it shows his mentality, shows his growth as a person. And it shows that he’s able to take these obstacles and continue on and keep performing. And I think that’s a mark of a really good player.”
McKennie and Juventus have one more game before the international break, as they face Genoa on Sunday. The midfielder will then travel to Texas to meet up with his USMNT teammates ahead of a Nations League semifinal against Jamaica on Thursday.
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