Coming off a busy preseason where he was deeply involved in the Paris Saint-Germain first team, Timothy Weah turned down the chance to leave the French capital on loan, hoping to push for playing time even once the World Cup stars returned to fitness.
With Weah now though firmly on the fringes, he seems open again to leaving temporarily in search of playing time.
“I’m still happy that I didn’t go on loan because everybody is telling me ‘You should have gone on loan,'” Weah told SI.com after the U.S. Men’s National Team’s defeat to Colombia on Thursday. “I’m not playing now [at PSG], but I’m still so happy going to training and experiencing everything they’re doing and watching them and taking up after them and trying to do the stuff they do. It’s huge in building a career and building on your game as a young guy.”
Weah, the son of former World Player of the Year and PSG striker George Weah, has been a regular with the U.S. Men’s National Team since the disaster in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago when the USMNT missed out on qualification for the World Cup. Weah possesses speed and great skills for a player of his age (18-years old), but he’s only going to grow so much at PSG if he’s just practicing and not getting game time. He’s so far only featured in two Ligue 1 matches this season and he has one appearance in the Coupe de France. Of course, he also has two goals. It’s been difficult since the return of Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria from their World Cup breaks.
On Thursday, Weah’s decisive run inside helped put him in a perfect spot to deliver a wonderful pass into the run of Bobby Wood, who finished to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead at the time. It’s moments like that both PSG and USMNT fans hope become regular in the future, as well as scoring goals himself.
So where could Weah go? If he wants a year-long loan, perhaps he could move to an MLS club, though it might be a bit of a downgrade if he could find a club who wants him in Ligue 1 or in the Bundesliga, which has a great track record of developing and playing youngsters.
