Aston Villa’s efforts to secure a suitable deal for the sale of Douglas Luiz dominated the start of the summer before his eventual sale to Juventus.
Unai Emery did not want to lose Douglas Luiz after the Brazilian had played a key role in helping to get Aston Villa into the Champions League.
However, with concerns regarding compliance with Premier League spending rules ahead of the PSR deadline it was decided that Luiz’ sale to raise funds made sense.
This was due to Luiz’ high value and the fact he was one of the Villa players attracting the most interest from prospective buyers at the time.
After numerous different structures of a deal were explored, it was finally agreed that Juventus would pay £42.5 million for Luiz.
With PSR successfully negotiated, Villa then signed Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea from Juve in what was effectively a swap deal in all but name.
- READ MORE: Who is Enzo Barrenechea? The Juventus gem likened to Rodri now included in Douglas Luiz swap deal
Weston McKennie set to sign new Juventus contract after being offered to Aston Villa in Douglas Luiz deal
Juventus did not want to part with a large chunk of their summer budget to sign Luiz so explored the possibility of a player plus cash deal, as well as various straight swaps.
Initially, it appeared one of the players that was set to be used as a makeweight to facilitate the Luiz deal was USA international Weston McKennie.
- READ MORE: How Douglas Luiz fared on his competitive Juventus debut vs Como after leaving Aston Villa
Emery was happy to welcome the 25-year-old to Villa Park but that deal was scuppered due to the McKennie’s high wage demands.
Now, it looks as though Juve are set to perform a U-turn on McKennie as Fabrizio Romano has confirmed on X that the player could now sign a new contract at The Old Lady.
Romano posted: “Agreement almost done between Weston McKennie and Juventus as new deal will be signed soon.
“Contract valid until June 2026, one more season added to his current contract.”
Aston Villa did not need McKennie this summer
This is a surprising change of heart from Juventus, but perhaps it is simply a move to protect their asset for any future sale.
Villa were unlikely to revive their interest in a move for McKennie even before news of a new deal, with Emery no longer needing the American.
Barrenechea arrives from Juve with enormous potential and Villa have the luxury of easing the Argentine into the Premier League thanks to the signings of Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana.
With Youri Tielemans starting the season well against West Ham, Boubacar Kamara set to return from injury before the end of the year and John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey also midfielders available to the club it is difficult to see where McKennie would fit.
With that in mind, McKennie’s move to Villa falling through appears to have worked out for all parties.
