USMNT players in the 2024-25 Serie A, La Liga, and Ligue 1
Serie A returns this weekend with two of that league’s biggest clubs featuring USMNT players. We’ll start with AC Milan, 2nd-place last season with Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah regulars in the squad. AC Milan finished 19 points behind scudetto winners Inter Milan, with the points gap highlighting a local rivalry that only adds to expectations.
The revamp of the Champions League for this season means the top five in Serie A qualified. That’s another talking point for AC Milan, who exited the Champions League in the group stage. Finishing 3rd in group F behind Borussia Dortmund and PSG dropped AC Milan to the Europa League where they exited to fellow Serie A club Roma in the quarterfinals.
Individually, Pulisic put in quite the season for AC Milan with a dozen goals and nine assists in Serie A. He played in six games in the Champions League and scored two goals in six games in the Europa League. Musah played in 30 league games with two assists, along with five appearances in the Champions League and four in the Europa League.
AC Milan has spent a considerable amount of money in the transfer window, according to reports. That includes €18m for Red Bull Salzburg defender Strahinja Pavlovic, €15m for Spurs defender Emerson Royal, and €13m for Atletico Madrid forward Alvaro Morata. In the other direction, forward Charles De Ketelaere to Atalanta for €22m highlights several moves.
Just behind AC Milan in Serie A last season was Weston McKennie and Tim Weah’s Juventus. They finished 3rd on 71 points, two ahead of 4th-place Atalanta and three above 5th-place Bologna. That’s how close it got last season, with the difference between 5th and 6th the line between the Champions League and the Europa League.
McKennie played in 34 Serie A games last season with seven assists. Weah played in 30 league games with one assist. Coach Thiago Motta moved from Bologna to Juventus in June, with the standard combination of pressure and expectation for the most successful of the Italian clubs. That includes the return to European soccer in the new version of the Champions League group stage.
Nicholas Gioacchini’s Como finished second in Serie B, winning automatic promotion with 73 points. That was three behind Serie B winners Parma and three ahead of Venezia. Gioacchini played in nine games for Como.
Gianluca Busio and Tanner Tessmann’s Venezia won promotion last season thorugh the playoffs after finishing 3rd. The transition back to Serie A is its own issue, including regrouping while other clubs look at the roster that got the club up a division. Busio played in 37 Serie B games last season, scoring seven goals, along with four playoff appearances. Tessman made 37 league appearances with six goals and also played in the four playoff games, scoring once.
In Serie B, Kristoffer Lund’s Palermo also made the playoffs last season, finishing 6th. Lund had 35 league appearances with two goals and two playoff games. Andrija Novakovich moved to Bari on loan from Venezia. Novakovich spent last season on loan to Lecco, playing in 38 Serie B games with six goals for the club who finished last in the league. Bari finished 16th in Serie B in 2023-24, staying up through the relegation playoffs.
Moving to La Liga, Luca de la Torre’s Celta Vigo finished 13th last season with de la Torre playing in 31 league games with one goal and five assists. de la Torre also had two goals in four Copa del Rey games with Celta Vigo making it to the quarterfinals. Johnny Cardoso joined Real Betis in January, finishing 7th and qualifying for the UEFA Conference League playoff round. Cardoso played in 17 league games and two in the Euroa Conference League.
In France’s Ligue 1, Folarin Balogun’s Monaco finished 2nd last season, nine points back of champions PSG. Balogun played in 29 games with seven goals and six assists. Monaco adds the Champions League group stage to its schedule this season, and with it the expected pressure in the revamped tournament. Monaco signed defender Thilo Kehrer from West Ham for €11m.
Emmanuel Sabbi played in 30 games in his first season at Le Havre, scoring five goals. Le Havre finished 15th, three points above the relegation zone. That means consolidation some place higher than that becomes the target this season.
Caleb Wiley left MLS for Chelsea earlier this summer and will spend the season on loan to Strasbourg. After finishing 13th last season, they’ve also added midfielder Andrey Santos on loan from Chelsea. The club signed midfielder Felix Lemarechal from Monaco for €8m, defender Guela Doue from Rennes for €6.5m, and midfielder Oscar Perea from Atletico Nacional for €5m.
On August 16, Mark McKenzie completed a move from KRC Genk to Toulouse. Toulouse finished 11th last season, losing only once over their last seven games. Toulouse made several offseason moves, that included transferring forward Thijs Dallinga to Bologna, defender Anthony Rouault to Stuttgart, and midfielder Veljko Birmancevic to Sparta Prague. Toulouse signed defender Charlie Cresswell from Leeds.
