Weston McKennie

McKennie made his Champions League debut for the club in the second match of the group stage, coming on in the 75th minute of a 2–0 home defeat to Barcelona.

Weston James Earl McKennie (born August 28, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for club Juventus and the United States national team.

Known for his versatility, McKennie is capable of playing in a multitude of positions, such as a box-to-box midfielder, deep-lying defensive midfielder, or a wingback.

Coming through the youth system, McKennie began his senior club career at Bundesliga side Schalke 04.

McKennie started playing soccer for the local club FC Phönix Otterbach in 2004, before moving back to the United States.

McKennie played for the youth system of Major League Soccer side FC Dallas for seven years from 2009 to 2016, before moving to Schalke.

His transfer to Schalke was the main catalyst for FC Dallas to create their reserve team, North Texas SC, which played in USL League One.

In February 2016, McKennie signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Virginia, but he subsequently turned down the scholarship offer to play for the Cavaliers, and instead sought to go professional.

In July 2016 McKennie declined to sign a Homegrown Player contract with FC Dallas.

He joined German Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04 in August 2016.

This was his only appearance during the 2016–17 season.

In 2017–18, he established himself as a first team player, playing 25 games in all competitions.

After three seasons, McKennie moved to Italian champions Juventus on loan, with the deal becoming permanent in March 2021.

He made his senior debut in 2017 and has finished runner-up in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup and won the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021 and 2023.

After spending less than a year with Schalke's academy team, McKennie was promoted to the first-team squad in May 2017.

He made his professional debut on May 20, 2017, as a 77th-minute substitute during a 1–1 draw with FC Ingolstadt 04.

McKennie made his first start in September 2017 and signed a five-year contract shortly after.

During the same year, McKennie made 21 appearances and scored 4 goals with Schalke's U-19 team.

During the 2017–18 season, McKennie cemented his place as a member of the Schalke first team at the age of 19.

He made 22 appearances in the Bundesliga.

He finished the 2017–18 season with 25 appearances in all competitions.

Further, he proved to be a valuable asset to Schalke given his versatility, with McKennie playing multiple positions in the midfield and defense for the team.

During the 2018–19 season, McKennie further increased his position with the Bundesliga club, starting 25 games for the club in both the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and UEFA Champions League.

Overall, McKennie made 33 appearances for the club and scored 2 goals in all competitions, in which he scored his first Champions League goal in a 1–0 away win over Lokomotiv Moscow.

Under new manager David Wagner, McKennie further established himself as an important part and valuable asset of a team that struggled to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

McKennie made a total of 28 appearances and scored three goals for Schalke in the Bundesliga.

McKennie made a further four appearances in the DFB-Pokal for the club.

With Juventus he won the 2020 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2020–21 Coppa Italia.

McKennie has represented the United States internationally at both the youth and senior levels.

Individually he won a U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award in 2020.

Although he was born at Fort Lewis, Washington, he considers Little Elm, Texas, his home town.

McKennie lived in Kaiserslautern, Germany, from age six to nine as his father, a United States Air Force officer, was stationed at nearby Ramstein Air Base.

On May 30, 2020, during a 1–0 loss to SV Werder Bremen, McKennie wore an armband that said “Justice for George” following the murder of George Floyd in the United States.

On August 29, 2020, it was announced that McKennie joined Serie A side Juventus on a year-long loan.

In doing so, he became Juventus' first player—and Serie A's fifth—from the United States.

The move was structured as an initial year-long loan for a fee of €4.5 million, with an option to make the loan permanent at the end of the season.

However, if McKennie met certain performance incentives, the option would automatically trigger, and the deal would become permanent.

In both scenarios, the deal would be for €18.5 million, which could rise an additional €7 million.

On September 7, McKennie had his introductory press conference and was given the number 14.

McKennie made his league debut for Juventus on September 20, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 league home win against Sampdoria.