Is anyone reporting this besides the Italian media? If I’m Aston Villa that’s a terrible deal. Douglas Luiz is arguably worth £80m+ and McKennie was pretty bad at Leeds and wasn’t exactly a world beater at Juve.
Well, as Gorky alluded to above, there's also this: 🚨⚪️⚫️ Juventus and Aston Villa, set to talk again about Douglas Luiz in the next days.The only way to make deal happen is by including players to join #AVFC or… no chance.↪️ Understand Samuel Iling Jr has been discussed as an option — as well as Weston McKennie. pic.twitter.com/HeJKJyZCQS— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 10, 2024 Fab's technically Italian, but his reporting seems to have a bigger reach than the Italian media.
In addition to the Fab tweet, the best info we've gotten on England's side of the story was TuttosportJuve talking to Tom Collomosse, who is one of the more reliable journalists reporting on Villa in England. He said the move is credible because there is PSR/FFP pressure on Villa, and that Emery is looking for a midfielder who can play kinda like a mezzala, which the role that Allegri has molded Weston into. There's also an argument for selling off quality to buy some depth. Neither Weston nor Iling-Junior are starters at Villa, but Villa are gonna have a busy schedule with the added CL matches.
New reports are mostly on England's side, but it's West + Iling-Junior + €20m, but Juve are pushing to lower the cash included. IDK about Iling-Junior, but that's closer to like €75-80m, depending on the value agreed on for him
Interesting quote in that link: McKennie, as you were saying, didn't leave a great memory in the Premier League with Leeds. Why would Emery want it so badly? "In fact, Emery loves to play with four central midfielders, two in the middle and two on the flanks who center to create a block centrally. If McKennie is able to combine physical strength with commitment and technique, he could be very useful for the Emery's football".
Still seems like BS at those numbers. I’ll be really surprised if this happens but would love for WM to play under Emery.
The addition of a 2nd player makes me more skeptical. Gazzetta kinda makes it sound like this is Juve's last-ditch effort
Fab reports that there is progress on the deal: 🚨⚫️⚪️ Juventus manager Thiago Motta has given green light to Douglas Luiz swap deal.Juventus and Aston Villa are more than close to final agreement!🟣🔵 Weston McKennie, Samuel Iling Jr. and €20m fee to #AVFC as revealed.↪️ Personal terms for all players, now discussed. pic.twitter.com/vFqxtZggo8— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 11, 2024
Another rumor I just saw bouncing around is that Villa are interested in a swap deal to a club outside of England because there are sell-on clauses for both City and Chelsea. "Swapping" for a lower amount of cash means those guys get less of the total profit from the deal. No clue how true this is, might just be nerds on social media speculating wildly
Sources: Weston McKennie close to joining Aston Villa as part of deal that sees Douglas Luiz go to Juventus.I stress it’s not done and a lot of moving parts with 3 players involved, but trending positive.@JamesHorncastle wrote about it this morning too https://t.co/Wl08n8w1Cx pic.twitter.com/QnTquaxKpW— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 11, 2024 I think Tom is less "powerful" when it comes to non-MLS deals, but confirmation that something is going on. I remain skeptical with 2 players swapped, as 3 sets of players & agents AND 2 clubs is a lotta negotiating.
Not shocked a player swap is likely happening, Italian teams do it quite often, more surprised that it's 2 for 1
Don't love McKennie to the Prem but I'm hoping for the best. The speed and intensity of play doesn't suit him IMO. Serie A is a bit more languid.
Following the sport for 20+ years now, I recall numerous reports of our guys abroad being possibly involved in swap deals, but learned long ago that it almost never happens, and I began to rubbish 'trade' reports as soon as they came out. The fact that this may actually happen and Wes may be involved in a swap deal is fascinating to me, and I am sort of hoping it goes through now. Let's hope Wes surrounded by decent players in the Prem will go well, unlike the Leeds fiasco (in which Wes struggled, but was not aided by the fact that LUFC was a dumpster fire).
I saw Villa play a pre-season friendly against the Houston Dynamo in like 2012 or so. Jack Grealish was there as a relative nobody, dude had the biggest calves I've ever seen on a human (at least proportionally speaking). Brad Guzan was there too. Don't remember if he played but it was a neat experience.
TIFWIW.... 29 appearing on 'The Straight Red Card' podcast on Monday stated "Weston to Ashton Villa, go ahead and lock it in. It's gonna happen soon."
In addition to still being super skeptical of all 29 reports, I wouldn't lock in a 3-player swap deal until it actually goes through. Any purchase involving multiple players can get real messy real fast (ex: Keaton Parks being sold as part of package deal to Portimonense led to him having to sue his way out of his contract at Varzim). All it takes is one club whispering a better offer into one party's ear, and the deal falls apart. There are so many reports from all sides involved that it's safe to say that talks are underway, but I won't believe anything is done until Weston is wearing claret and blue.
Meanwhile, in Weston's other big story in the Italian media: “When I saw my sister celebrate Juve’s Coppa Italia win on the pitch I blocked her on all social media for 4 days.”Frattesi to La Repubblica 😂For those that don’t know, McKennie dates Frattesi’s sister 🫂🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/4n9TUxL0ce— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) June 11, 2024