U.S. men's national team midfielder Weston McKennie is now fully reintegrated into the Juventus squad after he was left out of the project for most of the summer as a move away seemed likely. McKennie was called up by Juventus' new manager Thiago Motta for the opening game of the 2024-25 Serie A season against Como but didn't make his seasonal debut in the first game at the Allianz Stadium.
After the unexpected decision, considering the increasing rumors and reports of his likely exit this summer transfer session, the club also started talks with the player's camp over a new deal, considering his contract is running until the summer of 2025. McKennie will now stay at Juventus for at least another season, something that was almost unthinkable a few days ago. So, what happened in the recent weeks to make Motta change his mind?
Thiago Motta defined McKennie as "useful" in the pre-match press conference last Sunday, underlining how important he can be even this season at the club. McKennie also was on the verge of leaving the club in the summer of 2023 when he was back from the unhappy loan spell at Leeds United. Former Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri started him in the pre-season tour and quickly made him one of the most important players of the team in the past season where McKennie played 34 out of 38 Serie A games, as both central midfielder and winger.
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Allegri left Juventus. McKennie's camp started talks with Juventus for a new contract considering his deal is expiring in less than 12 months from now, but the two sides couldn't agree to terms and the player was left out of the project, with the clear intention to sell him this summer and avoid losing him as free agent in June 2025. New manager Motta adapted to the club's decision and never called him for the friendly matches this summer, alongside other key players in similar situations, such as Federico Chiesa.
Things got more tense at the end of June when McKennie refused to join Aston Villa in the same deal that brought midfielder Douglas Luiz to the Bianconeri this summer. Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli was able to keep the deal alive and included Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior in the same transfer deal, but the relationship with McKennie got worse and the player was definitely excluded from the squad.
Weeks after, the situation didn't really change and all the teams that approached both McKennie and Juventus didn't fully satisfy the player or the club's demands. So, unlike the summer of 2023, McKennie's exit from Juventus was mainly due to contract issues while in the summer of 2023, it was more of a tactical decision. The USMNT star proved on the pitch that he can be useful, as Motta himself said in public.
It will now be interesting to see how Motta intends to play McKennie. In the 4-2-3-1 of the new manager, he can potentially play as a central midfielder alongside the same Douglas Luiz or Kephren Thuram, but he can also potentially play as a winger, as he already did over the past year. Things are now finally back to normal for McKennie, who can now hope for a more long-term future at Juventus after it looked like he didn't have one at all.
