When Weston McKennie first arrived at Juventus, his loan move was seen as the Italian champions taking a flier on a young American with tons of potential. More than a half a season later, McKennie has proven himself to be much better than Juventus could have hoped.
The Serie A side announced on Wednesday the decision to trigger the purchase option on McKennie’s loan from Bundesliga side Schalke, completing a $22.3 million transfer that could rise to $30 million with performance bonuses.
McKennie has also signed a new contract with Juventus through the 2024-2025 season.
McKennie has emerged as a standout on Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus side, playing in 31 matches in all competitions, scoring four goals to break the record for most Serie A goals by a U.S. Men’s National Team player. He also played a role in Juventus capturing the Italian Super Cup.
McKennie’s transfer comes as Schalke is in the midst of a nightmare season that will see the club likely relegated from the Bundesliga. Even if Juventus had chosen not to buy McKennie, a transfer this summer would have been guaranteed given McKennie’s performances.
McKennie and Juventus face Lazio on Saturday as they try to close the gap on Serie A leader Inter Milan. Juventus is also still alive in the UEFA Champions League, with a Round of 16 second leg looming against FC Porto on Tuesday after Juve suffered a 2-1 first-leg loss.
Our next Captain America right there!
Go get’em Wes
Welcome to the Juventus family Weston!
WM is the bargain of the season.
McKennie has reason to smile. For those who forgot, he gets 10% of that fee, minus 10% for his agent, which means a cool $2 m9llion plus probably a bump in salary in the near future. The national team could end up with up to 5 or 6 world class players the way our young players are developing (barring injuries). For those of us who have followed the team since 1990, it really is a dream come true.
I’m sure both of us remember years hoping and dreaming of this future we are witnessing pool wise today. It used to be hopeful to have one or at most two field players playing on a Champions League squad. Now there’s so many you can’t literally watch all the games with an American playing. It’s an abundance of riches. We’re definitely the sleeper for the next WC. Hoping we shock a few giants make a deep run in 2022 to set the table experience wise for the main event in 2026. Fingers crossed.
I’m 75 now. It would be a lifetime dream if I saw us reach the semifinals before I die.
Gary, curious who your favorite USMNT player over the years was? I have a pretty good guess who it is.
Yeah, ultimately if you’re Juventus you have to be really happy with this bit of business. Not only has McKennie proved himself to be an invaluable contributor to a midfield that, frankly, is probably in the top 15-20% of midfield groups in club football, but has also shown the potential to continue to evolve and grow as a player, which is really exciting. Weston is only 22 years old, meaning we’re probably about 3-4 years away from seeing him at his absolute best in terms of what he can be as a talent. He’s already in an elite category as far as playing at a top, top level and producing and being well-rated, but he may yet develop into a truly world class midfielder if he keeps on like this. Juventus buying this player at his current level, at his current age, and with so much green potential still in front of him is something they should be really happy with.
Bargain!