Tag: Weston McKennie

Juventus boss Motta says he may have a use for McKennie after all

History appears to be repeating itself for the USMNT midfielder

Weston McKennie has once again gone from outcast to in the mix at Juventus.

Just two weeks after Juve head coach Thiago Motta told McKennie his services were no longer required, the situation has changed for the U.S. men’s national team midfielder.

At a press conference ahead of Juve’s season opener against Como on Monday, Motta declared that he may, in fact, have a use for the midfielder this season after all.

“McKennie is a useful and functional player for our needs,” the coach said on Sunday. “Tomorrow we have 19 players to face the match and I can only put 11 on the pitch and make five substitutions. We are fine, we trained with the right intensity and we are ready.”

Motta’s words were a major departure from earlier this month, when he said that every player left out for a friendly against Brest — including McKennie — was not in his plans.

“We have been very clear with them,” Motta said on August 4. “They are talented, but must find other options where they will get more playing time. For [Federico] Chiesa and the others, the decision has been made.”

But after several media reports last week that McKennie had returned to the fold, Motta has confirmed that the 25-year-old is back in his plans.

McKennie’s contract is currently set to expire at the end of the season, with talks over an extension so far proving unsuccessful.

The USMNT star’s situation is reminiscent to what he faced last summer, when he returned from a loan at Leeds only to find himself an outcast.

“I didn’t have my locker, I didn’t have a room in the hotel, I didn’t have a parking space,” McKennie said in an interview with The Athletic.

“I couldn’t even get my shirt number (14), even though nobody else had taken the number. I was like, ‘OK you guys want to treat me like this? I’m just going to show you on the field.’”

McKennie responded last year by becoming a vital part of the team, starting nearly every game while tallying a career-high 10 assists.

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Source: FC Cincinnati makes bid for USMNT star McKennie

Could the USMNT star be heading back to his home country?

U.S. men’s national team midfielder Weston McKennie will have several options if leaves Juventus this summer, and they won’t all be from Europe.

A source tells Pro Soccer Wire that FC Cincinnati has made a bid for McKennie, with the MLS side willing to go as high as $15 million in an effort to secure the USMNT mainstay as a Designated Player.

FCC is understood to be one of several MLS sides interested in McKennie, who is set to enter the final season of his contract with Juventus.

Talks between McKennie and Juventus over an extension have reportedly hit a dead end, and the Bianconeri now appear to be open to selling the Texan this summer rather than lose him for free in 2025.

McKennie was recently rumored to be nearing a move to Aston Villa as part of a swap deal, but that transfer now appears to be off due to McKennie’s failure to reach an agreement with the Premier League side.

This past season for Juventus, McKennie played in 38 matches across all competitions and amassed nearly 3,000 minutes of playing time, recording a career-best tally of 10 assists.

FC Cincinnati is currently second in the MLS table but leads the league in points per game. The Ohio side sees McKennie’s possible addition as a major boost for its aim to win both MLS Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup.

McKennie came up through the FC Dallas academy, but has never actually played in MLS. As an 18-year-old, the midfielder turned down a homegrown contract offer from FCD in favor of a move to German side Schalke.

Pro Soccer Wire has reached out to FCC for comment, and this article will be updated if there is a response.

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Juventus really wanted Weston McKennie gone last summer. History may be repeating itself.

The USMNT midfielder was forced to change with academy players, among other indignities

Weston McKennie has opened up on his outcast status at Juventus last summer, revealing details on how the club ostracized him following his return from his loan at Leeds.

The U.S. national team midfielder had a rough spell at Elland Road in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign, returning to Turin last summer as an outcast.

Though Juventus initially wanted to offload McKennie, the midfielder instead worked his way back into now-former manager Max Allegri’s plans and became an ever-present for the Bianconeri in the 2023-24 campaign.

In an interview with The Athletic, McKennie said he couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the treatment from Juventus last summer.

“I knew it was going to be (challenging). I didn’t know it was going to be to that extent; where I didn’t have my locker, I didn’t have a room in the hotel, I didn’t have a parking space,” McKennie said, echoing comments from his USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter in March.

“I changed in the locker rooms with the academy kids, even when you had players in the main locker room who had never played a game for Juventus because they’d always been out on loan. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wow, I’ve only been gone for six months. I come back and I am treated like this.’

“I couldn’t even get my shirt number (14), even though nobody else had taken the number. I was like, ‘OK you guys want to treat me like this? I’m just going to show you on the field.'”

Motta prepared to sell McKennie

Though McKennie proved to be one of Juve’s most effective players last season, it appears the club is once again prepared to offload him this summer.

The 25-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the upcoming season, with talks over an extension seemingly at a dead end. McKennie was rumored to be nearing a move to Aston Villa as part of a swap deal, but that transfer now appears to be off due to McKennie’s failure to reach an agreement with the Premier League side.

That leaves McKennie in a difficult spot at Juve, whose new manager Thiago Motta has reportedly decided the American isn’t in his plans.

Tuttosport claims Motta is entering his first season in charge without McKennie in mind, which could mean the midfielder will be heading for another new club — whether it’s Villa or not.

At least for McKennie, being forced to prove himself all over again would be nothing new.

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Weston McKennie’s new commercial is Truly something

The USMNT midfielder really hams it up here

Truly Hard Seltzer has found a very effective pitchman in Weston McKennie.

The U.S. national team midfielder stars in a new commercial for the drink, which relishes in the self-bestowed title of “Official Shower Beverage of U.S. Soccer.”

McKennie, ahem, Truly makes the most of his moment in front of the camera, expressing a real affinity for his “Shower Truly” while even using it to help bathe himself.

The ad stops abruptly when McKennie is interrupted by his USMNT teammate Tyler Adams, who is really just ready to get on with his day.

“My teammates know they can always count on me to rally the team for a good time after a game,” McKennie said in a press release. “When Truly approached me about Shower Trulys, I said, ‘That’s great, I think I invented them – let’s show the fans.’”

Let’s show them, indeed.

Watch McKennie star in Truly commercial

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McKennie reportedly close to Aston Villa move as part of swap deal

McKennie could be back in the Premier League, and on a side playing Champions League soccer to boot

Weston McKennie could be going back to the Premier League, this time on a permanent basis.

Sky Sport Italia reported on Tuesday that the U.S. men’s national team midfielder could be leaving Juventus for Aston Villa as part of an unusual — at least, for European soccer — multi-player trade.

Per the report, which has since been backed up by multiple outlets, Juve is in talks to send McKennie, wide man Samuel Iling-Junior, and between €18-20 million to Villa in exchange for Brazil midfielder Douglas Luiz.

While the reports caution that the deal is not done, Gianluca Di Marzio has claimed that McKennie’s camp has already agreed to contract details with the Birmingham-based club.

Despite an impressive season that saw McKennie post 10 assists as a full-time starter, Juve has seemed set on moving the USMNT regular out the door.

A March contract offer reportedly involved asking the 25-year-old to take a pay cut, and the Italian giants may have been rushing to get something for McKennie this summer rather than losing him on a free transfer when his contract ends after the 2024-25 season.

Juventus reportedly made an improved offer in April, though McKennie rejected that as well amid rumors of interest from clubs in MLS and Saudi Arabia.

Aston Villa move could benefit McKennie

A move to Villa could be a positive development for McKennie. Unai Emery led the club to a fourth-place finish this past season, getting the Villans into the Champions League for the first time.

With Luiz moving as part of the rumored deal, McKennie would be a frontrunner to start in the Villa midfield alongside John McGinn and Youri Tielemans.

McKennie’s prior spell in the Premier League was a difficult half-season spent on loan with Leeds United in 2023. Leeds ended up being relegated, while McKennie struggled for good form amid multiple coaching changes.

However, this past season with Juventus proved that McKennie could be a consistent starter at a top club. Per USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter, McKennie returned to Turin to find he didn’t even have a locker, with the club seeming to have moved on.

McKennie battled his way into the starting lineup in the season’s first few weeks, and by season’s end had totaled 2,950 minutes in all competitions for the Bianconeri.

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USMNT putting ‘pressure on ourselves’ to win Copa America

The USMNT is openly hoping to win Copa América, and Saturday’s friendly vs. Colombia will test its ability to do so

In past iterations, the U.S. men’s national team would be heading to a tournament like the upcoming Copa América talking about testing themselves against top sides, allowing for hope of a solid showing and maybe a big upset.

The 2024 edition of the USMNT isn’t shying away from more ambitious goals.

Speaking to reporters at the team’s last training session before Saturday’s friendly against Colombia, some of the team’s biggest names were forthright about wanting more than to just put up a good fight.

“We’re gonna put pressure on ourselves to go really far, and hopefully win the thing,” asserted Antonee Robinson. “Out of these friendlies, I want to see us go into both games fearless, and confident in our ability to play, and our ability to hold our own against some of the best countries that are going to be in this tournament.”

Los Cafeteros will provide exactly that kind of test. Colombia has not lost a match since Néstor Lorenzo was appointed the team’s manager just under two full years ago. A team that can beat them can beat anyone in this summer’s tournament.

Any sort of long run at this Copa América more or less requires the USMNT to go through multiple teams of Colombia’s caliber. The U.S. is in the same group with Uruguay, who dismantled Mexico 4-0 on Wednesday.

McKennie: USMNT’s Copa América goal ‘is to win’

Should the USMNT show its mettle in Group C, the odds are that Colombia and Brazil will both be looming in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Get past them, and a final against Lionel Messi and Argentina is a distinct possibility.

One of the major shifts in the USMNT in recent years is how its players discuss a gauntlet like that. A roster with more players starting regularly in the world’s best leagues is a factor, as is the personality types making up the squad.

One of the best examples of that is Weston McKennie, whose 2023-24 was one to remember. Returning to Juventus after a difficult loan spell with Leeds United, the Texas native found himself frozen out in Turin.

Following patterns from the past, McKennie would have aimed lower, landed at a club with fewer expectations and less pressure, and gotten his minutes that way. Instead, the 25-year-old pushed his way into the Juve midfield, becoming a fixture in the Bianconeri lineup by the time October arrived.

That self-belief came through as McKennie held court in the Maryland suburbs Friday, with the USMNT star backing Robinson’s insistence that the object at Copa América is winning a trophy.

“Our goal is always the same whenever we go into tournaments: it’s to win,” said McKennie, who proceeded to calmly lay out a case for the USMNT to push for more than simply putting up a good fight.

“We have players that are playing in big clubs, we have players who are playing against these guys [on top international opponents] week-in and week-out, and have shown success doing it as well. So, I think our goal is to win.

“One of our goals that we set off [with] five years ago is wanting to change the way the world views American soccer, and now to change soccer in America forever.”

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Max Allegri sacked as Juventus head coach

Allegri’s second spell in charge of the team ends after three seasons

Massimiliano Allegri has been sacked as Juventus head coach, the club has confirmed.

Allegri’s second spell in charge of the Bianconeri ends just days after the coach led his side to a Coppa Italia title with a win over Atalanta in the final.

But Juventus has disappointed in Serie A this season, currently sitting fourth in the table.

In a statement, however, Juventus indicated that Allegri’s sacking was at least partially down to his behavior during the Coppa Italia final.

Allegri lost his cool late in the match in Rome, throwing off his blazer and tie in a fit of rage as he was shown a red card. After the final whistle, the coach got into arguments with Juve sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli and Guido Vaciago of Italian newspaper Tuttosport.

The club said Allegri’s sacking “follows certain behaviors during and after the Coppa Italia final that the club deemed incompatible with the values of Juventus and the behavior that those who represent it should have.”

In the aftermath of the final, Allegri was banned for two games in the Coppa Italia.

Allegri’s second spell in charge of Juve didn’t feature nearly the same highs as his first. The coach led Juventus to 11 trophies between 2014 and 2019, including five consecutive Serie A titles.

After returning in 2021, however, Allegri won just one trophy in three seasons: the 2023-24 Coppa Italia, clinched just two days before he was sacked.

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McKennie on Juventus future: ‘I’d like to stay, but we’ll see what happens’

The USMNT midfielder has been linked with an exit as his contract enters its final year

Weston McKennie has said he would like to remain at Juventus beyond this season, but the midfielder also left the door slightly open to a possible exit.

McKennie has been one of his side’s top performers in 2023-24, regaining a prominent role with Juventus after an ill-fated loan with Leeds in the second half of last season.

The U.S. men’s national team star is set to enter the final season of his contract, which will expire in June 2025. That makes the coming months potentially decisive when it comes to his Juventus future.

Juventus has been in talks with McKennie over a new contract, but may be forced to sell this summer if a deal can’t be reached.

After his side drew Roma 1-1 on Sunday, McKennie spoke to DAZN about his future with the Bianconeri.

“I have a year left in my contract, and my agent is speaking with the director. I’d like to stay, obviously, but we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, we can work it out,” he said.

Juventus currently sits third in Serie A as the season winds down. The club fell well off the pace in the title race after a promising start, and will have its only chance at silverware on May 15 when it faces Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final.

Should he stay, McKennie said he is hoping to bring his side back to its past glories in the coming seasons.

“As for the team, we have the same goal we’ve had for the past three years. We want to win the Scudetto and play a big role in the Champions League; we want to return Juventus to the glory days, how it was before,” the Texan said.

“Juventus are a team with a lot of winning history, and this team wants to show that we belong in that history as well, so hopefully, we can win the Coppa Italia, at least a trophy this season and finish the season strong and for the future put Juventus where we belong.”

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McKennie posts, deletes Manchester United jersey picture on Facebook

The photo was up for less than an hour before it was quickly deleted

There was a curious photo that briefly showed up on Weston McKennie’s Facebook account on Friday.

Accompanied by a caption of “I’m here!” was a photoshopped image of the Juventus midfielder wearing a Manchester United jersey. The profile picture was up for less than an hour before it was deleted.

According to Calciomercato, the explanation was the most obvious one: McKennie’s account was hacked.

The post certainly came at an interesting moment, with McKennie locked in contract talks with Juventus near the end of a standout season for the Serie A club.

The latest reports out of Italy suggested that the U.S. national team midfielder rejected the club’s most recent offer, which could see Juve look to sell him over the summer rather than lose him for free when his contract expires in 2025.

Among the clubs linked with a summer move for McKennie is, naturally, Manchester United, which GIVEMESPORT recently said was eyeing a transfer for the 25-year-old.

The report said that McKennie could be available for as little as £15 million despite his excellent campaign in Serie A.

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Weston McKennie played Fortnite during a World Cup final watch party

The USMNT midfielder isn’t interested in soccer unless he’s playing it

The 2018 World Cup final was a pretty enthralling game.

Aside from the simple fact it was a World Cup final, France and Croatia also played an open and entertaining match in Moscow, with France prevailing 4-2 to lift its second World Cup title.

Weston McKennie was at a watch party with some friends and teammates that day, but don’t ask him too much about that match. Because he was playing Fortnite.

In an interview with ESPN, the U.S. national team and Juventus midfielder professed to be among the group of pro players who give it their all between the lines — and then mostly ignore the sport when it’s not time to play.

Case in point: that watch party, which took place at Christian Pulisic’s house when he was still at Borussia Dortmund. McKennie, who played for nearby Schalke at the time, attended the event with several other players amid the teams’ preseason camps.

“Everyone was on the couch watching the game,” McKennie said. “There were a whole bunch of TVs.”

But the USMNT midfielder was playing Fortnite.

“They all just laughed at me,” he said. “Like, ‘How can you be playing that right now? This game is so good.’ And I would look up every once in a while. But it just doesn’t interest me. I’ll play soccer and give it everything I have. But that mentality when I’m not playing, I need to switch it off.”

Rabbi Matondo, who currently plays for Rangers and was a teammate of McKennie’s at the time, was dumbfounded.

“I used to ask him, ‘How do you play football the way you do and have no knowledge of anything going on in the sport?” Matondo said.

For McKennie, who has starred for Juventus this season and will be a major part of the USMNT during the upcoming Copa América, finding the right balance between off-field and on-field engagement is key.

“I enjoy playing football. I want to go as far as I can,” the 25-year-old said. “But honestly, if my career ended tomorrow, I would be happy. And I wouldn’t have regrets for anything that I’ve done.”

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