Alexi Lalas was considered a pioneer when he joined Padova in 1994. Nearly two decades later came Michael Bradley, first at Chievo Verona, then at Roma. Then in 2020, Weston McKennie became Juventus’ first American player.
There was a time when Americans’ soccer skills were not considered refined enough to join the highly technical Italian league.
Now three United States internationals have joined Serie A during the same transfer window: Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah at AC Milan and Tim Weah at Juventus. The three Americans are some of the new faces to watch in the Italian league this season.
The league kicks off on Aug. 19.
Here’s a look at some of Serie A’s top new players.
Pulisic will attempt to revive his sagging club career at American-owned Milan leading into a home World Cup in the United States in 2026.
Pulisic signed a four-year deal with the club following a transfer from Chelsea, with the Rossoneri retaining the option for a further season.
Considered the top U.S. player, the 24-year-old Pulisic struggled with injuries and never fully lived up to expectations at Chelsea. He left the London club with a year left on his contract.
“I haven’t gotten the opportunities I’ve wanted in recent years and haven’t reached the level that I want to be at, and this is a great opportunity for me to do that,” Pulisic said.
Argentine-born striker Mateo Retegui, who has joined promoted Genoa on a five-year deal, is already known in the country after making his Italian national team debut in March.
The 24-year-old Retegui scored on his international debut against England in March then also found the target in his second appearance against Malta — becoming the first player to score in his first two competitive matches for the Azzurri since Pierino Prati in 1968.
In his Genoa debut last week, Retegui scored two goals in a 4-3 win over Modena in the Italian Cup.
Retegui scored 35 goals in 70 matches for Argentine club Tigre over the past two seasons.
It seems fitting that the first four letters of Retegui, “Rete,” form the word that translates to “goal” in Italian.
Set to replace Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko as Lautaro Martinez’s strike partner at Inter Milan, France forward Marcus Thuram is following in his father’s footsteps by moving to Serie A.
Thuram signed a five-year deal with the Champions League finalists in a return to his birth country on the day the transfer market opened in Italy.
“I used to watch Serie A when I was a kid,” Thuram said. “Coming to Serie A for me is like coming home.”
The 25-year-old Thuram joins on a free transfer after deciding not to renew his contract with Borussia Moenchengladbach, where he spent the last four seasons.
Thuram’s father, Lilian, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, played as a defender for Parma and Juventus. Marcus Thuram was born in Parma.
Inspired by Kaka, anxious to join up with former Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori and ready to bring his box-to-box play to Italy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is looking forward to his debut for AC Milan at the San Siro.
The English midfielder signed a four-year deal with Milan following a transfer from Chelsea that was reportedly worth 16 million euros ($17.5 million).
“I was at Chelsea for 20 years of my life. This is a special time for me to finally break away from the club, start a new chapter in my life,” Loftus-Cheek said.
Having coming up through Chelsea’s youth system, Loftus-Cheek played seven seasons for the Blues with 155 appearances and 13 goals.
He played with Tomori at Chelsea’s academy.
At 6-foot-3 (1.91 meters), Loftus-Cheek combines a physical presence with a mix of various skills.
“I’m accustomed to a lot of positions in my career. Different formations require me to play different positions, and I’ve been comfortable with that,” he said. “But I feel like my best is, where I can impact the game the most, is in the midfield, in a box-to-box position where I can get up and score goals and get back and defend and bring my physicality.”
The 27-year-old Loftus-Cheek grew up admiring Kaka at Milan.
“He was just an incredible runner with the ball,” Loftus-Cheek said. “And that’s one of my strengths.”
Weah is fulfilling a dream his father once had of playing for Juventus.
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 following a transfer from Lille.
Weah’s father also played in Italy, for AC Milan, but recently told the 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."
Tim 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.
Musah, who was born in New York but grew up in Italy and England, signed a five-year contract with AC Milan following a transfer from Valencia.
The 20-year-old Musah is a midfielder who was a regular starter in his three seasons at Valencia. He spent part of his childhood in Castelfranco Veneto near Venice.
Musah has made 27 appearances for the United States.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer
