Valencia missed out on European qualification last season in La Liga, but is reportedly targeting offensive reinforcements this summer in the form of a U.S. men’s national team forward.
Timothy Weah is linked with a loan move to Valencia for the upcoming season, French outlet L’Equipe reported Wednesday. Weah’s loan spell would also include a permanent option to buy, should Lille be willing to let the American attacker go this season.
The 22-year-old recently concluded his second season with Lille, totaling three goals and five assists in 35 combined appearances for the club. Weah ended the season in stellar form, registering three goals and one assist in Lille’s final two matches of the Ligue 1 campaign.
Weah has earned 24 caps to date with the USMNT, recently starting three of the four June matches for Gregg Berhalter’s side. He scored in a 3-0 friendly victory over Morocco back on June 1 before also starting against Uruguay and El Salvador respectively.
Weah has two seasons remaining on his current contract and would be a welcomed addition to Valencia’s attacking front. Gennaro Gattuso was appointed as Valencia manager earlier this month and will be eager to push Valencia back into the top-six picture in La Liga after a ninth place finish in 2021-22.
The Spanish club finished last season with three double-digit goalscorers with Goncalo Guedes, Carlos Soler, and Hugo Duro totaling 35 combined goals between them in all competitions.
Should Weah earn a loan spell to Valencia, he would join international teammate Yunus Musah, who has totaled five goals and one assist in 51 combined first team appearances since debuting in 2020.
I’m NOT so hot on this move. He was getting into the rotation at Lille (which is a FAR BETTER side) and I would hate for him to have to “start over” in 1. a New league with 2. a New Language and 3. a New Coach. That sounds like a lot of risk when we are 6 months away from a WC. Plus King Barak and the rest of the team really seem to love Weah. It’s a comfy space and there’s lots of support in France. I personally wouldn’t do it.
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BUT playing and training with Yunus everyday could yield some huge upside in chemistry and cohesion on the pitch. So, I can be sold on this despite my concerns.
Sounds like Gattuso wants a CF, not sure if that’s in addition to Weah or they see Weah as a CF.
Makes sense if he is going to get playing time. Otherwise stay at Lille and be that teams attacking talisman this season.
First off Valencia starts/subs/sits Musah about 1/3-1/3-1/3 so it’s not the guaranteed American starting team it sounds like. Second unlike Horvath or Wood, Weah hasn’t seemed to be affected by club playing time. Maybe he’d be even better playing more but he seems professional and prepared when called and his game is more speed.
One thing I might ask about Weah, though…is it Weah’s injuries and limited playing time that have held him back from becoming elite like his father? George wasn’t exactly a teen phenom himself, though. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1995 at age 29, and if you look at his career George didn’t really catch on as a full-time starter in Europe until late 1988, when he moved from Tonnerre Yaounde in Cameroon to Monaco. He was 22…the same age Tim is now.
Physically Tim looks REAL similar to his father in terms of build – George was maybe a little thicker, especially later in his career – speed, catlike contact balance, and athleticism. He has that same howling shot from distance. And Weah’s confidence, effectiveness, and impact on the game seems to grow every fixture window.
I know it’s unlikely Tim ever quite hits THAT level – I mean, George was in hallowed Ronaldo/Messi air – but it does suggest Tim’s got acres of upside he hasn’t yet tapped. And he’s flashing all sorts of signs he’s got a next level of innate ability.
I am wondering if it’s time we moved him back to central striker. If he can become even 80% the player there his dad was – and I think he well could – he’s our starting 9 the next two cycles. George Weah was as elite as they come.
I mean….I’ll stop talking. Just look for yourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv9e3yxECRw
IV its common practice to rotate young players minutes in order to build endurance and insure they learn what their bodies need to recover to insure longevity of their investment. 2 years ago Musah was fast tracked into minutes do to injuries. Last season he was in rotation. I expect his minutes to increase this upcoming season, but I don’t think he’ll be an every game starter.
Brining in a Winger/2nd striker like Weah may also indicate that Valencia could be ready to move Musah more centrally.
If this loan does go through it could be a boost to the USMNT. Having 2 of our best young players playing together day-in and day-out could be a huge boost to the team chemistry.
been a weah fan since 2018/19 when sarachan called him and he was part of the core of the U20 team. i am a little leery of ditching him as wing because that’s the main part of the offense — that works — that’s outside of this high predictability low percentage chance sideways passing take it to the flag and whack a cross offense. that and he played striker for U20 against ukraine and he looked uncomfortable. i also think trying him at striker would likely require an investment of a series of games, say, most of 2023, with unknown payoff. that being said, the book on the “9” corps is it’s either FCD players who can score on bad teams but not good, or it’s prospects who have not yet fully cooked at the level we need. in that situation my response is similar to yours — the donovan/dempsey strategy — move someone at the level who has some definite “9” toolbox elements. if this all funnels to the 9 the 9 needs to be a finisher who can get on the ball more and hopefully combine more. personally i think that’s pulisic or maybe even morris — who i’d stumped for before this set of games. i think weah is irreplaceable flying down the wing and squaring balls into the danger area; everyone else wide tends to be a slower, technical type or an arriola hustle merchant. but like i said, if you wanted to try it, realistically, he was not a duck to water the ukraine U20 game, it would need to be months’ commitment, friendlies, Nations League games, Gold Cup. and the risk is it still might not work.
side point, i guess everyone has forgotten green exists…….
first off, you reminded me that for valencia, musah is more a winger and this might come at his expense. like in theory they play the same slot, and have some overlap on skill sets. second, while you’re making some sort of “flex” like you secretly get how they are “progressing” him, what i see is a flat graph on appearances and minutes. i think it’s where i watched Atletico Madrid all this season and you see where Hoppe never plays and Musah comes on as a sub and you get a different perspective on whether some of these career choices are working.
that and people forget weah bouncing around as a PSG academician — and how GB used that to sandbag him. little lost on everyone’s urge to move right before a world cup. it’s not even “don’t move” in an absolute sense, it’s maybe wait til winter to do it, and when you do, pick someplace you’ll start. i don’t buy valencia has some secret plan for musah and given weah’s history of landing everywhere as a sub i’d be calibrated if i make another move to try and change that.
I do agree with IV in the sense that Weah really needs to be playing now, wherever…and like IV I’d be a little leery of making a move this big into a new league with a new language with so little time to acclimate unless Weah’s just a guaranteed starter, which I’d have a hard time believing. Is there really such a thing in La Liga?
The timing of a move here is maybe not so good for Weah in USMNT terms, though of course he’s entitled to chase his career wherever he feels the opportunities are.