USA midfielder Weston McKennie in Dortmund talks – source
USA midfielder Weston McKennie is in talks with Borussia Dortmund during the summer transfer window, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The story was first reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport and negotiations between McKennie and Dortmund have recently progressed.
McKennie, 24, has Juventus under contract until 2025, having recently returned from a six-month loan spell at Leeds United, who were relegated from the Premier League last season.
Juventus are keen to shed players and reshuffle their squad as the 36-time Scudetto winners have endured a disappointing 2022/23 season and Dortmund see an opportunity to strengthen their midfield.
Dortmund earlier this week announced the signing of Felix Nmecha, an attacking midfielder, from VfL Wolfsburg for €30m. They lost three midfielders in Jude Bellingham, Mahmoud Dahoud and Raphael Guerreiro. Bellingham joined Real Madrid for €103m while both Dahoud and Guerreiro joined Brighton and Bayern Munich respectively for free.
McKennie’s past at Ruhr area rivals Schalke 04 could complicate a potential move. In 2016, the Little Elm, Texan native left Dallas Academy to join Schalke’s Under-19s before moving to the Bundesliga, where he made 91 appearances in all competitions for arch-rivals Dortmund.
A possible move by McKennie, who has 42 caps for the USA, could cause criticism among BVB fans.
After an impressive 2019-20 season, McKennie left Schalke and joined Juventus first on loan, which later became a permanent transfer, costing the Serie A club a combined €25m in transfer and loan fees.
While McKennie put in some solid performances for Juventus during his year-and-a-half tenure, he never managed to secure a role as a regular. Leeds had the chance to trigger a €33m release clause but decided against it.
At Dortmund, McKennie would play alongside his USA team-mate Giovanni Reyna, who is one of four established attacking midfielders in the squad alongside Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Marco Reus.
Meanwhile, Juventus will not be without US presence next season Bianconeri have just signed winger Timothy Weah from Lille for €11m.
