United States midfielder Weston McKennie is in talks with Borussia Dortmund over a move 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, is under contract at Juventus until 2025 after recently returning from a six-month loan stint at Leeds United, which was relegated from the Premier League last season.
Juventus is looking to offload players and revamp their squad, with the 36-time Scudetto winners coming off a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, and Dortmund sees a chance to make an addition to their midfield.
Dortmund announced the signing of Felix Nmecha, an attacking midfielder, from VfL Wolfsburg for €30 million earlier this week. They have lost three midfielders in Jude Bellingham, Mahmoud Dahoud and Raphael Guerreiro. Bellingham made a €103m move to Real Madrid, while both Dahoud and Guerreiro left for nothing to Brighton and Bayern Munich, respectively.
McKennie’s history with Ruhr Valley rivals Schalke 04 could complicate a potential move. In 2016, the Little Elm, Texas, native left Dallas’ Academy to join Schalke’s Under-19s before making the transition to the Bundesliga team where he would make 91 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund’s archrivals.
A potential move for McKennie, who has 42 caps for the U.S., could cause blowback from BVB supporters.
Following an impressive 2019-20 campaign, McKennie left Schalke for Juventus, first on a loan deal that later turned into a permanent transfer, costing the Serie A club €25m in transfer and loan fees combined.
While McKennie had some solid displays for Juventus during his one-and-a-half-year stint, he was never able to lock down a role as a regular starter. Leeds had the chance to trigger a €33m buyout clause but decided against it.
At Dortmund, McKennie would play alongside U.S. teammate Giovanni Reyna, who is one of four established attacking midfielders in the squad, with Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Marco Reus being the other three.
Meanwhile, Juventus won’t be without any U.S. presence next season, as the Bianconeri have just signed winger Timothy Weah for €11m from Lille.
