He’s played just one game for his new club, but already Weston McKennie is drawing comparisons to a Juventus great.
Fabrizio Ravanelli, a former standout at Juve and Italian national team striker, said the US men's national team midfielder reminded him of Edgar Davids after watching McKennie’s 90-minute debut Sunday against Sampdoria in Juve’s Serie A opener.
"Maybe it’s a risky comparison, but McKennie reminds me a lot of Davids in his characteristics, and yesterday he played a really important game: he has great physicality and also good technique,” Ravanelli told Sky. “This won’t be a big-name Juve, but they certainly nailed his signing.”
Davids, nicknamed “The Pitbull” by former Dutch manager Louis van Gaal, partnered with Zinedine Zidane in the center of midfield for a Juventus team that won three Serie A titles and two Supercoppa Italiana crowns in his six years in Turin.
On Sunday, McKennie lined up next to Adrien Rabiot in central midfield in Andrea Pirlo’s 5-4-1 formation — moving to right wingback in the 78th minute. He became the first American to play for Juventus, where he’s on loan with an option to buy from Schalke.
