TURIN, Italy (AP) — United States winger Tim Weah completed a transfer to Juventus on Saturday, fulfilling a dream his father once had of playing for the storied Italian club.
The 23-year-old Weah, who is the son of former FIFA Player of the Year and current Liberian President George Weah, signed a five-year contract with Juventus on the day the transfer market opened in Italy.
“Honored & Blessed to finally be Bianconeri. None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my wonderful family,” Weah wrote in an Instagram post. "Thank you to everyone at Juventus for believing in me and giving me this opportunity to represent this legendary club.
“GRAZIE (thank you) to all the supporters for all the love they’ve shown me since day one and I can’t wait to meet you all very soon.”
Weah's father also played in Italy, for AC Milan, but recently told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that he would have loved to play for Juventus.
“I have always been a Juventus fan,” George Weah said. "I fell in love with Juventus when (Michel) Platini played for them and if I was asked what other team I would have wanted to play for I would say Juventus.
“I really hope to see Tim play in Italy sooner or later.”
Juventus will pay Lille 10.3 million euros ($11.3 million) — in two installments — for Weah, plus up to 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million) in bonuses.
Weah has played for Lille since 2019. Before that he was on loan at Celtic from Paris Saint-Germain.
He won three French league titles with PSG and Lille and also helped Celtic to the Scottish title.
Weah has played 31 times for the United States, scoring four goals. He was part of the squad that reached the last 16 at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Weah was welcomed by about 100 enthusiastic Juventus fans when he arrived for his medical test on Thursday. Some were also waving American flags.
France forward Marcus Thuram, who completed his move to Juve’s fierce rival Inter Milan on the same day, commented on the post with an Italian flag and an emoji of hands making a heart. Thuram’s father Lilian played as a defender for Parma and Juventus.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
