What you need to know about Timothy Weah

Timothy Tarpeh Weah (born February 22, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Ligue 1 club Lille and the United States national team.

Weah made his professional debut for Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, winning Ligue 1 twice and the Trophée des Champions once. He won a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double on loan at Celtic in 2019. He then joined Lille, winning another Ligue 1 title and Trophée des Champions in 2021.

In March 2018, he earned his first senior international cap for the United States. He was part of the squad that won the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals and played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Weah is the son of George Weah, the incumbent President of Liberia, who was previously also a professional soccer player, having won the Ballon d'Or in 1995.

Club career

Early career

Weah was taught soccer by his father and while in Florida played for West Pines United,[8] before moving back to New York and joining the Rosedale Soccer Club in Queens, New York, owned by his uncle.[4] Weah played three seasons with BW Gottschee, a team in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy system, and transferred to the New York Red Bulls Academy in 2013.[4] He had a trial with Chelsea at the age of 13.[9] Weah relocated to France in 2014 to join the Paris Saint-Germain Academy. In his first start with the academy team, he scored a hat-trick in an 8–1 victory for PSG over Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad in the UEFA Youth League.[10][11]

Paris Saint-Germain

Weah (right) and Claudio Gomes with PSG at Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Youth League in 2017

On July 3, 2017, Weah signed a three-year professional contract with French club Paris Saint-Germain, joining the club that his father had played for in the 1990s.[12][13] He spent most of the season with the reserves in the Championnat National 2 and the under-19 squad in the UEFA Youth League.[14][15]

Weah was named to the first-team squad for a Ligue 1 fixture against Troyes on March 3, 2018, while the club's starting forwards were rested for an upcoming Champions League match.[16] He came on as a substitute in the 79th minute of the match and had a goal-scoring opportunity in stoppage time that was saved by the Troyes goalkeeper.[17][18] Weah made his first start for Paris Saint-Germain in a 0–0 draw against Caen on the last day of the Ligue 1 season.[19] Weah scored his first competitive goal for PSG during a 4–0 win against Monaco in the Trophée des Champions on August 4, 2018.[20] He scored his first league goal a week later in the club's season opener, a 3–0 win over Caen.[21]

He joined Celtic on a six-month loan on January 7, 2019,[22][23] and said that he was "in love" with the club.[24] He made his debut on January 19 as a 69th-minute substitute for Scott Sinclair in a Scottish Cup fourth round match at home to Airdrieonians and scored in a 3–0 win.[25] Weah's second goal for Celtic, and his first in the league, came in a 4–0 victory over St Mirren on January 23.[26] In February 2019 he was added to Celtic's Europa League squad.[27] With Celtic, he won the Scottish Premiership and the team advanced to the Scottish Cup final.[28] Weah's loan spell at Celtic was terminated early by the club in May after he was selected to the US squad for the Under-20 World Cup, causing him to miss the Scottish Cup final.[29][30]

Lille

Weah playing for Lille in 2021

On June 29, 2019, Weah signed a five-year contract with Lille, starting on July 1. The undisclosed fee was reported by L'Équipe to be €10 million (then $11.37 million).[31] He made his debut on August 11, starting in a 2–1 home win over Nantes. He played 68 minutes before being substituted for Yusuf Yazıcı.[32] Weah made three appearances for Lille throughout the 2019–20 season,[33] but he missed most of the season due to injury; Weah suffered two hamstring injuries that kept him out of the bulk of the Ligue 1 season. The first injury occurred in a game against Amiens, keeping him out for six months, then the second occurred during his first match back with the team in a game against Marseille.[34]

Weah made his return from injury during the 2020–21 Ligue 1 season, during Lille's second match of the season. He came on in the 79th minute of the game against Reims for Burak Yılmaz and played 16 minutes.[35] On the next Europa League matchday, Weah started and scored his first goal for Lille in a 3–2 loss against his former club Celtic.[36] On December 16, he came on as a substitute against Dijon and scored his first Ligue 1 goal for Lille, capping off a 2–0 victory.[37] He played 28 games and scored three goals as Les Dogues won their first league title for a decade.[38] On August 1, the team won the 2021 Trophée des Champions 1–0 against PSG in Israel, with Weah playing the last 14 minutes in place of Jonathan David.[39]

On March 19, 2022, Weah was sent off in a 1–0 win at Nantes for a foul on Samuel Moutoussamy, who required assistance to leave the field.[40] He did not score until May 14 in the penultimate league fixture, a 3–1 win at Nice[41] and followed it a week later with both goals of a home 2–2 tie with Rennes.[42]