Weston McKennie on growing contingent in Italy: "Americans can play football"

29/12/2023 01:36

The number of Americans applying their trade in Italy’s top two flights has continued to grow in recent time and Weston McKennie is proud of it.

McKennie is continuing his fourth season with Serie A giants Juventus, alongside fellow U.S. men’s national team teammate Tim Weah. Weah was one of three USMNT stars to make the move to Italy this summer, as Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah signed with rivals AC Milan.

McKennie, Weah, Pulisic, and Musah have helped grow the American contingent in Italy, while all playing key roles for their current clubs this season. Fellow USMNT players Kristoffer Lund, Gianluca Busio, Tanner Tessmann, and Andrija Novakovich round out a total of eight Americans playing in Italy’s top-two tiers.

After being doubted at times by Italian fans’ mentality, McKennie voiced his approval for the growing American impact in Serie A and B.

"I like it because everyone [in Italy] thinks Americans only play baseball, basketball and so on,” McKennie said on the 19F Podcast alongside Juventus teammate Moise Kean. “When I arrived three years and a half ago everyone was asking who I was. 'An American? Can he play football? Now, there are [Christian] Pulisic and [Yunus] Musah at [AC] Milan, Tanner Tessmann and Gianluca Busio in Venice, and Timothy Weah at Juventus. Now everyone knows Americans can play football.

"There are other players from Germany and Spain, but as I said before, in Italy, everyone is a bit stuck in the head like this, and maybe they didn't know we [Americans] can also play football, not only basketball,” McKennie added.

McKennie endured a tough second half of last season with Leeds United, watching as the Yorkshire club suffered relegation from the English Premier League. After being linked with a permanent move away from Juventus, the 24-year-old has fought for his spot in Massimiliano Allegri’s squad, totaling 17 appearances and two assists to date during this campaign.

Juventus will hope that McKennie and Weah can continue to excel as the Old Lady aims to claim a first Scudetto since 2020. The Old Lady hosts AS Roma on December 30 in their final match of 2023.