Juventus have tried to do away with Weston McKennie. They even succeeded as soon as, sending him on mortgage to Leeds United just for the American to return six months later. When he received again to Turin, as US coach Gregg Berhalter instructed the story on the time, Juve had emptied his locker and given away his parking spot. Regardless of this, McKennie caught round.
It’s simply as effectively for the Outdated Girl that he did – McKennie is now within the type of his life. The 27-year-old has scored 4 instances in simply eight video games for the reason that begin of 2026. He has turn out to be certainly one of Juve’s most vital gamers and arguably the largest driving drive behind their current upturn in kind. Luciano Spalletti – among the many most big-name coaches presently working in Italian soccer – has used McKennie to mould the staff in his personal picture.
Spalletti is a tactical radical. On this period of positional play, he argued “methods now not exist in soccer” throughout his Scudetto-winning time at Napoli. “It’s all in regards to the areas left by the opposition,” he told Sky Sports Italia lately. “You should be fast to identify them and know the appropriate second to strike.”
That is certainly why he likes McKennie – a position-less participant, or relatively, an each place participant. He’s been Juve’s utility man for years, filling in all around the area at any time when required. Based on WhoScored, McKennie has performed as a left again, proper again, left wing again, proper wing again, defensive midfielder, central midfielder, proper winger, No 10 and centre ahead. The one shock is that he hasn’t performed in aim (but!).
Since Spalletti’s arrival in October, McKennie has been mostly used on the appropriate aspect. From there the American has the license to float inside, get in between the strains and push up as a secondary striker. As Spalletti says, methods now not exist and McKennie is the Juventus participant who greatest embodies the philosophy of the membership’s new supervisor.
One wonders what Mauricio Pochettino makes of McKennie’s present kind. The US head coach omitted McKennie from his roster for the September and November friendlies, arguing “we already know what he can present the staff.” This was complicated reasoning contemplating how little time Pochettino needed to work together with his greatest gamers in 2025.
McKennie is actually one of many United States’ greatest gamers, but it surely’s not clear how he’ll match into the lineup on the World Cup. Pochettino appears uncertain of McKennie’s’s suitability for one of many deep-lying midfield roles, which means he may very well be pushed additional ahead into one of many dual-No 10 positions. This a part of the pool, nonetheless, additionally contains Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna and Diego Luna. Competitors is stiff.
It’s attainable McKennie might line up for the USMNT on the appropriate aspect, as he continuously does for Juventus. There, he might play in a 4-4-2 out of possession as a part of the midfield 4 and tuck inside off the wing in attacking phases. To this point, although, Pochettino has favoured Sergiño Dest, Tim Weah and even Alex Freeman on this function.
If Pochettino is, as some suspect, a doubter of McKennie, he can anticipate to be proved incorrect by the midfielder earlier than too lengthy. That is McKennie’s factor. He has been written off a number of instances in his profession. Nearly each season McKennie has spent at Juventus has began with hypothesis about his future there. He’s been instructed a number of instances to anticipate restricted sport time and each time he has labored his approach again into the staff.
Spalletti clearly will get McKennie. He has a agency grasp of his strengths and his weaknesses and has constructed his Juventus staff across the American to intensify the previous. In opposition to Parma on Sunday, when Juve produced arguably their greatest efficiency of the season up to now, McKennie was on the coronary heart of the whole lot, scoring within the thirty seventh minute of a 4-1 win.
“I’ve by no means in my profession labored with a coach like this,” McKennie mentioned of Spalletti after his man-of-the-match efficiency. Spalletti has additionally taken the chance to speak up the Juve participant who has embraced his concepts extra totally than anybody else. “He fights, he’s sturdy within the air and he can bounce excessive,” mentioned the Outdated Girl boss. “He performs to get outcomes as a result of he makes selections. He could be an ideal striker.”
Talks over a brand new contract to maintain McKennie at Juventus past the top of the season have reportedly began. Conflicting claims have linked the midfielder with Serie A rivals Milan and Napoli whereas a transfer to FC Cincinnati in Main League Soccer seemed to be on the playing cards not so way back. McKennie’s agent lately took to social media to dispel what he known as “lies and propaganda.”
What isn’t a lie is McKennie’s worth to Juventus on the pitch. At a time when the Turin membership is rebuilding for the longer term, the American is exhibiting he deserves to be a central pillar of Spalletti’s new-look staff. If and when McKennie places pen to paper on a brand new contract, possibly he can ask for his parking spot again.
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