Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

The American has been crucial for Juventus throughout this season. Weston McKennie has been Juventus? best and most consistent midfielder during the 2023-24 campaign, a fact that was true before his two-assist game against Atalanta over the weekend and a fact that will still be true if he plays a stinker against Genoa or Lazio in the upcoming weeks. If you had told Juventus fans a couple decades ago that the best midfielder on the team for at least one season in the future would be a kid from Little Elm, Texas, a town exactly 25.4 miles from the house where I lived during high school in Dallas, they probably would?ve questioned your sanity.
Yet here we are.
One can make the obvious, rather trite observation that such a claim might say more about the state of the midfield unit than McKennie?s virtues as a midfielder, but the fact remains that this Texan, who gets paid significantly less than his counterparts Adrien Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli, has been integral in another rollercoaster season for the Old Lady. Despite the ups and downs the club has suffered this year, despite all the consternation about the post-January slump and bombing out of the Scudetto race, Juventus are on track to return to the Champions League next season, which was the bar set tacitly and out loud before this campaign began. The American is a huge reason why this goal is still achievable and probable.

The best midfielder and it?...