After Leeds disaster, USMNT's McKennie is back to his best at Juventus - ESPN

TURIN, Italy — One recent afternoon, Weston McKennie walked into a pizza parlor.

In this part of the world, where he has emerged as one of the top midfielders in Serie A and perhaps Juventus' most consistent player, McKennie can rarely go out in public.

La Lampara, a restaurant run by the cousin of his personal chef, is a safe haven. He even stores a bottle of Hidden Valley ranch dressing, his favorite condiment, in the refrigerator to swirl on his pizza.

But in Leeds, where McKennie was chastised by fans for looking overweight, it all sounds like the start of a bad joke.

McKennie spent the second half of last season on loan at Leeds United with the expectation of staying longer. Instead, his introduction to the Premier League was a disaster, marred by accusations by fans that he wasn't fit and wasn't making an effort. Suddenly, ranch dressing was no longer just a personality quirk. It was a symptom of the problem that was dragging down the club.

«I feel like I let people down,» he says now.

— Stream on ESPN+: NWSL, LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

At the time, Leeds appeared to be building America's Team. The investment arm of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers was set to complete a purchase of the historic club and market it across the Atlantic. Manager Jesse Marsch — of Racine, Wisconsin, and D.C. United — had signed two of McKennie's U.S. teammates, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson. (They joined Englishman Jack Harrison, who attended high school in Massachusetts and played college soccer at Wake Forest.)

McKennie, who started his career at Schalke 04 and moved to Juventus in 2020, was seen as the missing piece, a tireless box-to-box midfielder who would provide a touch of Champions League quality.

Except… none of it