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Is FC Dallas going to lose Weston McKennie to Schalke?

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Could FC Dallas lose out on their academy star? US Soccer leaked a potential deal for the 17-year old.

By Jack Hazzard
FC Dallas

In an unfortunate turn of events, FC Dallas star academy product and United States U-17/18 Player of the Year Weston McKennie has "officially" signed with Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04.

The news was keenly found by Top Drawer writer Will Parchman, who found a small sliver of mind-blowing information while reading the Player of the Year awards for the Under-17/18's. However, around an hour after his finding, Parchman was told that the announcement was "premature, and this deal isn't yet done."

After the news broke of McKennie's alleged move, U.S. Soccer quickly edited the article claiming the 17-year-old's move, replacing "recently signed a professional contract with Germany's FC Schalke 04" to "being called up for six camps." Even though U.S. Soccer was able to cover up the mistake, the news already broke and has reached the public.

So why did U.S. Soccer cover up their mistake? First, usually, it is unheard of for a national team to announce a player's move if it involves the club level. If the news is to be officially announced, both FC Dallas and Schalke would be the ones breaking the news. Second, even if the news is true, Weston McKennie may not sign with the Bundesliga club legally until his 18th birthday, which is a little over a month away on August 28th.

According to Sports Illustrated Soccer Writer Brian Straus, McKennie's deal with Schalke has not been finalized as of yet. He included that the FC Dallas Academy product recently traveled to Germany and that FC Dallas still has a chance of keeping their star.

If McKennie does inevitably decide to part ways with Dallas, it will prove to be another massive academy blow to FCD, who aren't new to losing rising academy stars. This move for McKinnie can prove to be enormously fruitful for his career as joining such a historic Bundesliga side can gain the 17-year-old global soccer notoriety. On the other hand, his move will hurt his home town club. If the Little Elm native joins Schalke, FC Dallas is due no compensation, something academy clubs recently have been fighting.

News is looking good for FC Dallas though, Weston recently took to twitter to claim that the news of him joining Schalke wasn't actually true, but the 17-year-old would not further elaborate.

The loss of McKennie will truly hurt the club, however, FC Dallas has a little over a month to persuade the 17-year-old to stay with the club, suggesting that Fernando Clavijo needs to get to work.

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