Weston McKennie was initially expected to depart Juventus in the summer after completing his loan spell at Leeds United. The American midfielder was deemed surplus to requirements at Juventus, and the club sought to offload him swiftly.
However, McKennie underwent a significant transformation during the team’s pre-season training camp in the USA, impressing coach Max Allegri and successfully working his way back into the manager’s plans.
This turnaround has been remarkable for the former Schalke 04 player, who has now become a key figure in the starting lineup at the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus is currently relishing the resurgence of McKennie, and there are no intentions within the club to consider selling him again.
McKennie was asked about the motivation behind his remarkable return to form and he said, as quoted by Football Italia:
“I left Juventus after the winter break last year and went to Leeds. It didn’t go as planned, obviously, I didn’t have the best performances and I felt like I let certain people down.
“At the end of the day I think it was important to have an experience like that at this moment of my career, because when I came back, it felt like I was coming here for the first time.
“When I first came to Juventus, nobody knew who I was, everybody doubted me, everyone against me. It put the chip back on my shoulder and that is when I perform best, when I prove that I can do it and I do belong. So it was nice to come back and have that feeling again.”
Juve FC Says
McKennie has enjoyed one of the best career transformations we have seen recently and it is a thing of joy for us as well.
His return to form means we will not have to sign a new midfielder and offload him.
