Weston McKennie’s future at a crossroads: USMNT star wants to stay at Juventus - but is it the right fit?

McKennie is hard to quantify, largely because he doesn’t have a natural position. In 22 appearances this season, the American has started across five different roles - defensive midfielder, center midfielder, attacking midfielder, right back and right wing back - in a variety of systems. Nominally, or at least traditionally, McKennie is a central midfielder: a box-to-box No. 8 capable of doing a bit of everything. But that label only goes so far. Dating back to the tail end of last season, his versatility has stretched even further, with additional shifts at left back and left wing back.

New manager Luciano Spalletti may be more of a 3-4-2-1 ideologue, but even he cannot seem to settle on one slot for his American talent, alternating between a right wing back and right attacking midfield spot. 

All of this means that stats do the American a bit of a disservice. His return of two assists in Serie A and two goals in the Champions League do little to reflect his attacking quality. Look at the defensive numbers, and you will see that McKennie wins a lot of headers - which makes sense because he's 6 feet tall but doesn't do loads else. His tackles, interceptions, and clearances numbers are all below average among full backs - but they're far above among attacking midfielders.

The point, more broadly, is that being good at everything - or, at least, able to do it all - makes McKennie harder to evaluate in a cold, hard world of data. 

There is a familiar cycle with McKennie, and it starts with skepticism. That tends to fade once managers see him up close. At Juventus, though, that evaluation process rarely has time to settle. Across six seasons, McKennie has played for six different coaches, none of whom lasted more than one full campaign - a level of turnover that makes long-term clarity almost impossible.

Juve are a mess at the senior level, and after a financial scandal and the departure of numerous sporting directors, the Bianconeri haven't been able to bring in the right group of players - on a consistent basis - for years. Cristiano Ronaldo was, in fact, the epitome of the problem, a player signed for big money off little more than name value - and decimating their finances for the seasons to come. 

That makes it immensely difficult for a new coach to establish his favorites. And McKennie tends to be among the first to be told they can leave. Perhaps it's because he doesn't fit a mold. Most coaches like to come into jobs with a clear system, an idea of how they want to play. At Juve, the football should make for good watching, with the right player at every spot. McKennie has become a victim of his own versatility. 

There are so many variables here, but peering back at McKennie's younger days, it was clear that he had the potential to be an elite center midfielder. He impressed at Schalke and even in an ill-advised stint at Leeds, proving that he was capable of playing the position at a high level.

Skillsets don't always have to translate into longevity, of course. There are plenty of examples in which players develop into Swiss Army knives as they age. The most obvious example - and this is a good comparison for McKennie - is James Milner. He was an elite wide midfielder at Leeds, but by his late 20s was able to play a bit of everywhere. These days, he is the epitome of versatility. Plenty of other midfielders, too, have played at other positions. Steven Gerrard was a right back for a while. Federico Valverde - despite so obviously being a perfect center midfielder - has plugged holes here and there. 

Yet both of those two players settled by their mid-20s. McKennie is 27 now, and perhaps needs to find somewhere that will allow him to do just that. 

But who will take him? And what's the right fit? There were rumors last year that FC Cincinnati were interested in him - and willing to pay a pretty penny in compensation. MLS would make some sense. It is, no doubt, a step down in quality from Serie A. But McKennie could comfortably demand $10 million per season, play on home soil, and would immediately be among the best players in the league. That seems a safe bet. 

Yet there is a sense that an MLS move - with all due respect to what is ever improving as a competition - may be a few years in his future. Now, the focus might remain on Europe. There were sparse links to Arsenal in the past, while Aston Villa have also cropped up here and there. Villa might make sense, especially if they can coax him to Birmingham on a free transfer. He would seem an ideal fit for manager Unai Emery, who values high-energy midfielders, and will need a succession plan for the excellent yet aging John McGinn. A Premier League return might also be enticing. Villa are on track to play in Europe next season, and find themselves unable to spend big due to their flirtations with restrictive Profit and Sustainability Regulations. They will need to improve on the cheap. What better fit than someone on a free?

Yet other clubs in Europe could want his services. There is always a market for good center midfielders, while McKennie's resume at Juventus speaks for itself. Spanish football would be an imperfect fit, but a Bundesliga return makes sense, too. 

This will be a tricky summer for transfers. McKennie's contract expiration, in fact, comes at a curious time. The immediate focus for most players is the World Cup. USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino has a curious relationship with McKennie. The Argentine left the Juventus man out of his November squad despite him being fully fit and available for a duo of friendlies against strong South American sides. Pochettino said at the time that he wanted McKennie to get minutes on the training pitch under his new manager, appointed less than a month before. But most of the Juventus squad, at the time, was on international duty. What exactly could McKennie have learned in his short time almost alone in Turin? 

There have also been reports suggesting a lack of clarity around Mauricio Pochettino’s view of McKennie. While the U.S. head coach has not addressed the midfielder’s role publicly, recent squad selections and usage patterns have often seen other players favored in similar roles, leaving McKennie’s standing less clearly defined. What is clear, however, is McKennie’s established track record with the national team. He was a key part of the U.S. midfield at the 2022 World Cup, starting alongside Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah. At the 2024 Copa América, his tournament was overshadowed at times by his public comments regarding pitch conditions, though he was not singled out as a factor in the United States’ early exit.

More broadly, then, there is ample evidence to suggest that he should be in the U.S. picture this summer. What happens beyond that, though, is mightily uncertain.