The promise of a busy summer transfer window for much of the U.S. men’s national team is becoming a reality.
Tim Weah is reportedly on his way to Juventus, with Gianluca Di Marzio and The Athletic reporting that the USMNT forward has agreed to a five-year contract. The Serie A giants and Weah’s current club Lille are said to have reached a verbal agreement over a €12 million transfer fee.
Per the report, the final steps in the process may boil down to whether that €12 million is paid in one lump sum, or if it’s split between a €10 million fee up front followed by €2 million arriving as a bonus of some sort down the road.
Weah’s move to Italy might spark a bit of nostalgia in the country, as his father George (before he became literally the president of Liberia) won the 1995 Ballon d’Or and two Serie A championships playing for AC Milan. Back in March, Weah expressed an openness to follow in his father’s footsteps there, but it appears he’s going to end up at one of their most formidable rivals instead.
New club, new role?
Reports of Weah’s move to Turin have been buzzing in the days following the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League triumph. That said, the first-choice U.S. right winger figures to be signing on for a different role with Juventus.
Manager Max Allegri prizes fluidity in his team, but the base of his tactical approach has largely been a 3-5-2 formation. Juventus has interest in wingbacks who can function as wingers, and Weah — who finished the USMNT’s 2-0 Nations League final win over Canada as a wingback in a 5-4-1 — is high on their list for precisely this reason.
That adjustment doesn’t figure to impact his USMNT role under returning coach Gregg Berhalter, but it may see Weah rotated more regularly than he was at Lille. Between Allegri’s system requiring a prodigious amount of running from wingbacks and Juve being linked with Leicester City fullback Timothy Castagne, Weah likely won’t be playing 35-plus league matches a season with the Bianconeri.
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