Where Tim Weah will play for Juventus - and what it means for the future of the USMNT

Despite Lille's miracle Ligue 1 triumph in 2021, Juventus is an obvious step up the European ladder for Weah. This is Italy's biggest club, after all. It's still a club that commands enormous respect.

That all comes with a caveat, of course. Their recent punishment, which saw them docked points for violating financial rules, has knocked them down a peg. Meanwhile, the rest of Serie A has seemingly taken a massive step forward, with the likes of AC Milan, Inter and Napoli no longer their doormats to be stepped on.

Weah, meanwhile, has a deep connection with Serie A. His father, the legendary George Weah, was a superstar at AC Milan, where he became the only ever African player to win the Ballon d'Or. Weah has admitted that he's long been a Milan fan, even if he is now about to join their rivals.

"Milan gave everything to my father," he told MilanNews.it. "We have a great relationship with the city of Milan. Compared to my brother and sister, I wasn't born yet when my father played for Milan, but his Rossoneri story is incredible and his past with Milan is fantastic. Milan is a great club, it's the story of my family. I'm happy with what he's done."

He added: "Of course, I'd like to retrace my dad's footsteps. It would be something great to play for Milan. I'll keep going on my way and then we'll see." And while he won't be following his father to San Siro, Juventus remain arguably a step up from the Rossoneri, even in their weakened state.

For years, Juventus, and Italian teams in general, has been known for playing three (or five) at the back. And few are more well-known for a tactical system than Juve with the 3-5-2.

Massimiliano Allegri, the team's current coach, has been one of their more flexible in recent years, having shown the ability to switch things up depending on the squad he has at his disposal, but heading into the new season, reports out of Italy say the 3-5-2 will be the way going forward.

Much will depend on the next few months, of course, as transfers will determine the who is available to Allegri. Angel Di Maria is already gone, with the futures of players like Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot up in the air.

However, it's the departure of one player, Juan Cuadrado, that brings us back to Weah, as the Colombian's time at Juventus offers us the best glimpse at what life could be like for the Bianconeri's new arrival.

Few players in recent years have been better servants to Juventus than Cuadrado. It's a club known for producing, and keeping, stars, and Cuadrado has been as loyal as any.

He made over 300 appearances for Juve, having originally joined as a winger after a failed stint at Chelsea. A fantastic dribbler blessed with pace, Cuadrado was often deployed as a right wing-back during his time at Juventus, playing in that position under Allegri, Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo.

At wing-back, Cuadrado was asked to use his pace and flair to beat opponents before delivering balls into the box. The role, of course, calls for defensive responsibilities as well, but Cuadrado has never been known as a pure defender, even though he improved plenty over the years.

A pacey player with the ability to beat a man one-on-one before finding a team-mate in the box - sound familiar? It's something Weah does exceptionally well, and something he showed he could do at Lille during a spell at wing-back that served as something of an audition for this big move.

The initial decision set off alarm bells in America. Facing an injury crisis, Lille manager Paulo Fonseca turned to Weah to play as a left wing-back. Weah, to his credit, never missed a beat. He played multiple matches as both a left and right wing-back and, despite some early growing pains, he impressed in the role.

"I continue to learn. I do everything I can for the team," he said back in February. "I personally watch left-back videos like Marcelo. I'm still in the learning phase defensively... I'm starting to show that I'm capable of playing in this position. I'm happy that the team trusts me and I try to give back to them."

To Fonseca's credit, he probably stumbled into quite a solution. Despite what his World Cup goal against Wales would have you believe, Weah has never been particularly prolific in front of goal on the club level. He has just eight goals in 107 games for Lille, a rough return for an attack-minded winger.

What he does do, though, is cause danger and, in the modern game, that is one of the big responsibilities of wing-backs and full-backs. The position has changed massively in recent years, with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson partly responsible for redefining how a full-back duo can play. Attacking full-backs like Roberto Carlos and Marcelo have always had a place, but the position has changed even more in recent years.

Because of that, Weah is someone that seemingly fits the mold of a prototypical modern full-back. In prior years, he'd be an out-and-out winger, but that has fallen somewhat out of fashion. Wingers tend to cut inside more, with full-backs asked to provide width, which is exactly what Weah does.

And, for a Juventus team bracing to lose their starting right wing-back, Weah is seemingly an affordable answer with high upside, both on and off the field.

Still, despite all of the sound logic involved, this move does come with risks. Every transfer does, to be fair, but this one especially.

Forget the USMNT part of all of this because we'll get to that in a moment. Just from a club soccer point of view, this is a big move for Weah. Despite never really solidifying a starting role at Lille, he's moving up the ladder to a bigger club in Juventus, and that certainly won't be easy.

Despite their recent issues, Juventus are a club with expectations, and those expectations are to win. Winning isn't the most important thing, it's the only thing in Turin, and, from the moment he arrives, Weah will be tasked with helping Juve get back to the top of both Italian and, latterly, European soccer.

And he'll be doing so in a position that is still somewhat new. There will be growing pains, no doubt, and it'll be difficult to ask him to step right in and replace someone like Cuadrado. The Colombian, himself, was known for his defensive lapses at times, and Weah will probably have a few when going up against some of the elite attackers in Serie A.

To be fair, what Juventus will ask of Weah won't be too different than what the USMNT does. He'll play in a somewhat similar role, just with more defensive responsibilities.

While the modern game often calls for full-backs to provide width for wingers, the USMNT has often inverted that principle on the right side. Weah has been the player to get to the line, with Sergino Dest then tucking more inside as a playmaker. The function is the same, even if the roles are reversed.

Because of that, the USMNT should have nothing to really fear with this. Will Weah get as many chances in the final third? Probably not but, to be fair, he wasn't getting many anyway. It seems that Weah will never be a 20-goal-a-season player, but he could become one hell of a wing-back with some seasoning at Juve.

Weah at wing-back also opens the door for some potential tactical tweaks, should Gregg Berhalter want to go that way. With Dest's club future still murky after a terrible loan spell at AC Milan, Weah could be a contender to play at right or left-back in a pinch. The U.S. could also pivot to a five-man defensive system, putting Weah and Dest at wing-back, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna in midfield and Chrsitian Pulisic up top with Folarin Balogun. It's a fun option, for sure, but one that probably works best with Weah involved.

If anything, this move should be seen as a good thing for the USMNT. It gives Weah a step up to a club at a higher level, but also one where he's more likely to play. The technical and tactical level of Serie A should help him grow as a player, as will the pressures and expectations of Juventus. If McKennie does end up staying, then even better, as he'll have a familiar face playing alongside him that fans know he can play off of.

Will it all work out? We'll find out eventually, but, at least on paper, the logic is there. Weah looks set for the next step in his career, and it's one that should be a step forward, even if he takes a step backward into defense to make it happen.