Report: Weston McKennie ‘could be expendable’ in January transfer window

For the last couple of weeks before the World Cup break, Juventus’ midfield was in a numbers crunch that you never want to be in. It essentially became pretty easy to figure out who was going to be playing simply because there was nobody else to, you know, play.

Come January, that looks to be a little different kind of situation.

Unless there’s some sort of roster movement that takes place. Or another injury, I guess.

According to Sky Italia on Friday, there could very well be some movement if the right kind of offer comes Juventus’ way for one of those midfielders. That would be Weston McKennie, who is Sky Italia describes as “could be expandable” during the upcoming January transfer window. McKennie, currently at the World Cup with his United States teammates, potentially being sold in January would be the one thing that could allow Juve a little bit of freedom to do some dealings come the winter transfer window.

As Sky Italia reminds us something that is usually a given during the January window but rings true considering the club’s current financial state, Juventus will not be able to do any buying unless somebody on the current roster leaves and frees upon some room to add salary and/or brings in a decent transfer fee.

Of course, rumblings about McKennie’s future comes at a time in which Juventus’ midfield is seeing two youngsters in Nicolo Fagioli and Fabio Miretti push for playing time and Paul Pogba set to come back into the squad at some point in January. Throw in the fact that Adrien Rabiot — he himself who has an uncertain future with a contract expiring in the summer of 2023 — has had a really good season to date and it might be hard for some to find a place for McKennie even with a massive amount of fixtures in January and February.

But just like over the summer, if there could be a midfielder to leave Juventus, then McKennie would likely be the one to both have a market and command a pretty good fee. As Sky Italia reports, there is a market for McKennie — most likely abroad — and that’s something that Juventus could end up exploring as the next few weeks go on.

But as we know, Pogba’s health is always going to be a concern and there’s only so many minutes you can pin on Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli before they show signs of fatigue. Same goes for the kids. (And who knows where Leandro Paredes fits into all of this with how his playing time has taken a downturn in recent weeks.)