Serie A: Juventus buy Weston McKennie from Schalke for € 18.5 million

Juventus have bought Weston McKennie from Schalke for 18.5 million euros ($22.3 million), the Serie A club announced on Wednesday, ending the American midfielder’s loan spell to make the move permanent. In a statement, Juve said that an additional 6.5 million euros in add-ons would be paid to Schalke “on achieving given conditions over the course of the duration of the contract”. Juve added that McKennie had signed a new contract that commits him to the Italian champions until the end of June 2025. McKennie, 22, joined Juve from the German Bundesliga’s crisis club Schalke in the summer on an initial season-long loan. The US international spent four years in Germany and made 91 appearances for Schalke, but the Bundesliga club found itself in a perilous financial situation after the coronavirus pandemic. He has impressed for Juve since his arrival in Italy, scoring four times in 31 appearances for the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football. Juve said when they announced the initial loan in August that they would buy Texas-born McKennie if he met certain unspecified targets, and on Wednesday the club said “it’s because of this, that as of today, he has become an outright Juventus player”.