Editor’s Note: This is the first in a six-part TYAC series about an exciting generation of young Americans abroad. Each piece will focus on what to expect from the player in the upcoming 2020-2021 season.
American midfielder Weston McKennie made waves this summer with a surprise move to Italian giant Juventus. Here’s what to expect.
Sanjay Sujanthakumar
McKennie’s move to Juventus might be the only positive surprise I can think of in an otherwise unpredictable, painful year – that is an understatement – so far. With his days in Gelsenkirchen numbered – Schalke would have been forced to sell this summer regardless due to financial trouble – the midfielder seemed set to follow Christian Pulisic into the Premier League.
Weston was linked to Liverpool, which naturally raised the question about whether he was ready to jump to a big club at this point in his career. Southampton were among a few of the other suitors in England, with Hertha Berlin and Monaco also rumored destinations elsewhere, all fitting the profile of the intermediate step towards a transfer into the top tier later on in his career. But predicting McKennie’s next club in terms of its size was apparently thinking inside the box, and he suddenly has the chance to go box to box for the Bianconeri. The loan alone will cost Juve €4.5 million and a permanent stay is supposedly contingent on Juventus qualifying for the Champions League. Juventus have won the league nine years in a row and while they will be challenged this campaign to extend that streak into double digits, they will surely qaulify for Europe and trigger the €18.5 million fee to buy McKennie, a number that also includes up to €7 million in bonuses. With a cap of two non-EU signings in the transfer window, McKennie was the second for Juve after Arthur Melo arrived from Barca. If (when) the transfer is permanent, McKennie would – perhaps not technically because John Brooks was bought for €20 million, but in essence – become the second most expensive American player ever behind Christian Pulisic. Only three Americans have appeared in a Serie A match, and no American field player has been a regular at a club this big to date. In his introductory press conference, McKennie said, “It is a great honour to be the first American player in the history of Juventus. Having the opportunity to wear this shirt, representing my country and bringing young Americans closer to football makes me proud.”
McKennie’s performances after the restart were a relieving reminder of his quality and the fact that, despite the increasing number of options and permutations in the MNT midfield, he is undroppable from Gregg Berhalter’s lineup. Taking his talents to Turin can be the exclamation point, and I’m attributing any doubts about his long-term future in the heart of the American midfield to his positionally turbulent period under Dominico Tedesco in 2018-19. David Wagner’s deployment of McKennie was less schizophrenic – Wagner saw McKennie for what he truly is, a defensive midfielder – but Schalke’s implosion last season was another headwind for McKennie’s development. The Royal Blues were a dumpster fire in the second half of the campaign that McKennie had to escape.
Weston is an asset winning the ball both offensively and defensively – especially in the air – and a force running with it, particularly in transition. But Schalke’s anemic attack – despite finishing 12th they scored just 38 goals in 34 games, and the only teams who found the back of the net less than that were the two at very bottom of the table – wasn’t conducive to him sharpening his game in possession and patience maturing into his decision-making. The USMNT hasn’t been teeming with ideas in possession thus far in the Texas native’s international career, either. There shouldn’t be the same burden to generate offense for the Old Lady.
The expectation is a three man midfield – and for greater detail, we highly recommend this Total Soccer Show podcast with Serie A expert David Amoyal breaking down McKennie to Juve. McKennie, Adrien Rabiot, and Aaron Ramsey indeed started in the middle of a 3-5-2 in possession in the first friendly of the Pirlo era on Sunday. Juventus thumped a third division side 5-0 and without drawing too many conclusions, McKennie certainly looked like he belonged. He and Rabiot tended to sit more while Ramsey was rather adventurous, on a longer leash for the late run. But it was fairly fluid and McKennie was also given liberty to get higher up the pitch, especially pressing the opponent in their buildup. Artur and Rodrigo Bentancur came on for McKennie and Rabiot at halftime, and barring an unforeseen transfer in the next few weeks- most doubt Juventus will land Hassem Aouar) this will be Pirlo’s central midfield group.
McKennie fits the bill as the energetic ball winner to replace new Inter Miami signing Blaise Matuidi, even inheriting Matuidi’s number 14. When he was officially unveiled to the media, McKennie confirmed he and Pirlo agree on how he can be effective right away.
“Being able to win the ball back and break up plays,” McKennie said.
“I spoke with the coach already, and he liked the way I play, and my ability to be able to recuperate the ball, and my immediate retaliation in pressing. I think me and him are on the same page as far as what position fits me the best and what position I can be successful in.”
But if there’s a best case scenario in terms of who McKennie could emulate wearing the classic stripes, it’s Pirlo’s former midfield partner also imported relatively inexpensively from the Bundesliga: Arturo Vidal. Both Pirlo and Vidal moved to Juve in Antonio Conte’s very first transfer window as manager in summer 2011, and together were key to Conte’s brilliant reign at Juventus. In a midfield three, Vidal was Pirlo’s bodyguard as well as a battering ram and underrated passer in the attack.
Pirlo has talked about replicating Conte’s Juve, at least in spirit, and instilling a “DNA of work and sacrifice, of sweating for each other” which Vidal personified.
I’m not suggesting that McKennie is the next Vidal because peak Vidal was incredibly complete and arguably peerless, and their roles for Juventus may not be symmetrical if there’s no regista now. But because McKennie’s ceiling is still unclear, this is the most accurate – and extremely audacious – comparison. An industrious fan-favorite in Turin and middle-class man’s Vidal isn’t unrealistic.
McKennie’s game offensively could progress substantially given the quality surrounding him at Juve. And if/when the MNT has the personnel capable of pulling off Berhalter’s preferred possession-based football, an improved McKennie can make the whole that much greater than the sum of its parts and control matches. If he and Tyler Adams are both lining up deeper in the middle for their clubs like they did this weekend, there’s no reason that shouldn’t translate to the national team. Just ask Gio Reyna, the other member of the potential midfield triangle we’re salivating to see.
This season could be a milestone for McKennie and therefore an ambitious MNT player pool brimming with promise.
Sanjay Sujanthakumar is a longtime TYAC contributor. He also coaches soccer at the University of Southern California. Follow him on Twitter @Tha_Real_Kumar.