Juventus: Weston McKennie, Arthur Melo are the must-haves in midfield

Juventus are rebuilding their midfield in 2021, and while they have their eyes on an impact signing like Houssem Aouar or Manuel Locatelli this summer, they did make a couple of key additions in the summer 2020 transfer window.

Those two players, Arthur Melo and Weston McKennie, are the clear building blocks of the midfield. Although Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot are decent players, McKennie and Arthur are the two men in the middle of the park who can truly blossom into standouts at the Juventus Stadium for Andrea Pirlo.

Rabiot is too inconsistent. Bentancur doesn’t offer enough attacking impetus to start regularly for a club with Juve’s expectations. We can add Aaron Ramsey’s name as another player who doesn’t quite have the consistency necessary to be a building block, and that’s before factoring in his age (30) and injury history.

Arthur and McKennie are still taking their lumps. The first is 24, the second is 22. They still have a way’s to go before they can truly become star players for Juventus. But the promise is absolutely there.

The Arthur, Pjanic swap still looks like a brilliant move by Juventus

Juve’s decision to swap Miralem Pjanic for Arthur has proven to be a master stroke. Arthur is better defensively and just as good at transitioning play on the ball. His close control and ball-carrying are excellent. If there’s one area of improvement, then it is playing faster and more incisively, which is a trait he will develop over time with Pirlo after unlearning the bad habits at Barcelona.

Meanwhile, McKennie might not have the upside to be a superstar midfielder, but he absolutely has the football IQ and all-around ability to become a fixture for Juventus. He has been one of the breakout stars of the season and should absolutely be purchased permanently from struggling Schalke at the end of the campaign.

McKennie is a clutch player who has scored three important goals with two assists in Serie A this season. At a better club with more competent management, McKennie has been able to prove that he is a quality attacking player, in addition to being a hard-working defender who can help the team with his wise off-ball movement. At 22, McKennie gets playing in midfield better than a few of his older teammates.

Juventus still have questions to answer in the middle of the park after the 2020-2021 season, but their recent acquisitions have shown that they can be quality players for Pirlo. Between the two of them, Arthur has more to work on, but his technical class and overall potential are apparent for Juventini to see.