Every single time Weston McKennie scored a goal, recorded an assist, did both in the same game or just put forward another strong performance, the same chorus rang from Juventini. Whether online or in person, the sentiment was very much the same: “Give Weston a new contract.” In some of the best form of his career, McKennie was proving game after game that he deserved a new deal even as it look a little uncertain.
That was in the dead of winter.
Now, a couple of weeks before the arrival of spring,
guess who has signed that new contract that everybody was hoping he would sign before it was too late? Yep, one of Turin’s biggest Harry Potter fans.
Juventus announced on Monday that McKennie has signed a new long-term deal at the club and finally put to bed any lingering worries that he might leave the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2026. Instead, he is now tied to Juve through 2030 — giving a player who has still performed as well as anybody could have imagined the last couple of years despite the fact that multiple managers had him out of the squad before bringing him back in and having him become a regular starter. The deal ties the 27-year-old McKennie to Juventus through his early 30s if he does stay in Turin for much of the contract, giving him the long-term stability and a nice pay raise that he has been seeking for the better part of the last couple of years.
McKennie will reportedly see his salary go from the €2.5 million he has earned as part of the contract he signed at the beginning of the 2024-25 season to now €4 million with the potential for more with bonuses.
Just as important, he now has the clarity on his future that he has been seeking for months. And it comes
Here is part of the announcement from Juventus’ website:
After six years in black and white, Weston McKennie’s bond with Juventus has been strengthened with a well-deserved contract extension: the agreement that will bind the 27 year-old to the Bianconeri until June 30, 2030, is now official.
The renewal has been earned thanks to plenty of top-level performances by the American midfielder, who arrived in Turin from Schalke 04 in August 2020, and he has increasingly become a key player for the Bianconeri. In the Italian Cup match against Udinese last December he surpassed the milestone of 200 appearances for Juventus – which has since become 220, in which he has scored 26 goals and 26 assists, even taking on the role of striker in recent weeks.
A player unlike any other, versatile and capable of occupying literally any position on the pitch – as demonstrated in recent months in which, starting as a centre midfielder, he has been able to play very well as a striker, attacking midfielder, winger, full-back, and even as a defender.
When it comes to contract extensions we’ve seen Juventus players receive in recent years, this one definitely is of the most rewarding kind of feeling. We know that Kenan Yildiz’s is as much about trying to fend clubs off in the future, but keeping McKennie around is both satisfaction in the moment as well as the fact that he’s been bounced back and forth between being out of the squad and then back in multiple times under multiple managers the last couple of years.
McKennie didn’t just sign a new contract with a salary that feels bloated or undeserving. He went out there and earned a nice pay raise with the way that he has played this season and proved that he can be a valuable piece to the puzzle under Luciano Spalletti. He’s been counted out too many times to count at this point, but every single time he’s come back and made an impact that has proven he belongs at this club.
And because of it, he’s gotten a long-term contract that will keep him around much longer than some might have thought even a few months ago. He’s already been at Juventus for close to six seasons — and it’s about to be pushing a decade soon. That’s quite a good investment for a guy who has grown plenty over the past six years.
