Weston McKennie has managed to revive his career with Juventus, despite a disappointing loan spell at Leeds United last season, thanks partly to ‘marketing reasons’.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who say the player being included in Juventus’ tour of the USA solely for his appeal to the American audience has ended up working in his favour.
They explain that McKennie had been considered on the scrapheap by Juventus, who were more than happy to get rid of him alongside the likes of Bonucci, Zakaria, Arthur, Pellegrini and Pjaca.
At one point he was sent to train with that group, not so much nudged towards the exit door but accompanied out of it.
He was exiled from the squad following his disappointing loan spell at Leeds last season but that did not last long because the midfielder was reinstated into the group for the tour of the United States.
Paul Pogba not being 100% helped, and it all saw manager Max Allegri to focus on McKennie once more and ‘relaunch’ him.
The market did the rest as there were no serious suitors for the midfielder following his nightmare season at Leeds in which he did not stand out and was eventually relegated.
Since then, he has gone from strength to strength, with McKennie now a first-team regular and continuing to impress in a strong start to the season for Juventus.
It’s been an impressive turnaround and even saw the likes of Pogba relegated to the sidelines, although he also has a potential ban hanging over him following a failed drugs test and injury issues to contend with.
Either way, the revival post Leeds is on for the American, who can seemingly thank marketing for rescuing a Juventus career that appeared to be in the mud.
