It’s been a while since we last saw Weston McKennie perform for the U.S. Men’s National Team. Coach Mauricio Pochettino left him out of the team’s November double header against Paraguay and Uruguay, citing the changing situation with his club team, Juventus, as the reason. The Italian club had just hired coach Luciano Spalletti to pull it out of a poor run of form and McKennie’s role in Juventus’s future was uncertain.
“These next few weeks, with the possibility for the new coach to work with the players there, I think it’s important for Weston to be there and to convince the coach to keep playing [him],” said Pochettino of his decision, via Leander Schaerlaeckens of The Guardian. “I think that’s more important than to be with us, because we already know what he can provide the team.”
Pochettino’s perspective turned out to be prescient. The USMNT won both its November games handily, and McKennie—a player frequently on the outs with Juventus since his arrival in 2020—became a crucial part of Spalletti’s vision for the club’s future.
Spalletti rewarded McKennie’s patience, flexibility and effort with a new contract tying him to Juventus through 2030.