The 2024-25 Serie A season is about to start and there are currently seven American players on the rosters of the Italian teams. However, some of them might leave or at least change their club in the upcoming days before the end of the summer transfer window that will be closing on Aug. 30. Christian Pulisic was one of the new faces of the Serie A last season and was also one of the best players, as he immediately showed a great impact at AC Milan. He’s expected to confirm his qualities in his second Serie A season, but what can we expect from him and from the other six American players? Let’s find out.
Serie A kicks off this weekend as some of the world’s biggest cups battle for the Scudetto, and you can catch the action all season long on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network and CBS Sports Network.
Pulisic to shine again
It was an exciting first season for USMNT star Christian Pulisic at AC Milan as the American winger scored 15 and played 50 games in all competitions under Stefano Pioli. Despite the Rossoneri ending up second in the league and Pioli being replaced by Portuguese manager Paulo Fonseca this summer, there are many reasons to think that Pulisic can only benefit from this managerial change. It looks like AC Milan will in fact play with the 4-2-3-1, and as Pulisic already did a few times last year, Fonseca sees him also as a No. 9, to play alongside both Samu Chukwueze and Rafael Leao behind the new striker, Alvaro Morata. Pulisic can play in all the attacking positions, as a left or right winger and also as a No. 10, giving Fonseca more options to rotate his position during the game. Pulisic is by far the most versatile player in the attack of the AC Milan roster, and if he’s able to find the continuity he had last season, there is no reason to think he can’t replicate the numbers of the 2023-24 season.
Weah, Tessmann and more
While there are no doubts about the situation of Pulisic, there are much more doubts about all the other six American players of the league. His teammate, Yunus Musah, will look to find more minutes even if he played 30 Serie A games last season but will probably see more competition considering AC Milan are looking to sign a new midfielder and Fonseca will only play with two central midfielders. It’s likely to think he will find more space in the rotations when the Rossoneri will have more games during the season when the Champions League will kick off.
Juventus have, at least for now, two USMNT players on the roster. Timothy Weah will probably find time, also considering the amount of games Thiago Motta’s team will play, but the Weston McKennie situation is more than delicate. The player didn’t extend the current deal that is due up in the summer of 2025 and Juventus have excluded him from the squad in this pre-season. Both the club and the player are looking to find a solution in the shortest time possible, but as things stand there is no chance to see him playing again for Juventus.
Same for Tanner Tessmann, who already decided against joining Inter this summer. The Nerazzurri were interested in signing him in the same deal that brought Gaetano Oristanio to join Venezia, but Tessmann decided to refuse the offer and he’s still looking for another option for his future. At Venezia, there is another USMNT player, Gianluca Busio, who was one of the main faces of the club that got promoted to the Italian Serie A last season. During the 2023-24 season, Busio played 37 games and scored seven goals, providing four assists as well. He’s probably much more ready now to play Serie A soccer compared to when he made his debut during the 2021-22 season and we can expect more from him this season. Lastly, Como signed Nicholas Gioacchini from MLS side St. Louis last January and he’s part of the roster managed by Cesc Fabregas but only played 195 minutes in 9 games last season in the Italian Serie B.
American ownerships in Italy
Nine of the twenty Serie A clubs are currently owned or co-owned by American and Canadian shareholders. It recently became public that Canadian rapper Drake saved Venezia from bankruptcy and his Nike sub-brand Nocta recently signed a historical deal with the same Italian team. Let’s now take a quick look at the status of the nine clubs:
Atalanta: Co-owned by American businessman Stephen Pagliuca, who acquired 55% of the club in 2022 and became the president alongside the other co-owner Antonio Percassi, who kept his role at the club.
Bologna: Owned by Canadian businessman Joey Saputo
Inter: Owned by American fund Oaktree Capital Management after former Chinese owners Suning Group defaulted on a loan, failing to repay in May 2024 the debt.
AS Roma: Owned by American businessman Dan Friedkin.
Fiorentina: Owned by American businessman Rocco Commisso.
Genoa: Owned by American private investment company 777 Partners.
AC Milan: Owned by American investment management firm RedBird Capital Partners.
Parma: Owned by American businessman Kyle Krause.
Venezia: Owned by VFC Newco 2020 LLC, led by Duncan Niederauer.
