Leeds United ought to avoid a deal to make Weston McKennie a permanent signing this summer, which would cost the club € 33 million.
Leeds’ January business was ambitious as they spent big in order to avoid relegation from the Premier League, making three senior signings.
Weston McKennie was the third of those as he joined on an initial loan deal from Juventus, with a reported € 33 million option-to-buy included in his deal.
Since then, it’s not been a deal that looks like a shrewd business for Leeds, should they remain in the Premier League and make his signing a permanent one.
Here, we look at two reasons why Leeds needs to avoid this agreement with McKennie…
He is not a £ 30 million player
One performance so far this season has justified the price tag for McKennie, coming in that utterly dominant display against Nottingham Forest.
However, controlling the midfield against a team that poor isn’t totally indicative of a player’s quality, especially when it is backed up with multiple displays at the other end of the spectrum.
We haven’t seen the consistency in his performances to suggest that we would be making good business here by committing to such a fee.
He hasn’t positively improved the side since joining, other than adding an extra body to an area where Leeds has no cover.
Will Leeds be relegated?
What is very clear about McKennie thus far is that he does not suit the way Leeds play or the position that he has been playing.
He joined from Juventus as a box-to-box midfielder that enjoys making late runs into the area, and we’re not able to see that, because Jesse Marsch and Victor Orta identified him as someone to cover for Marc Roca and Tyler Adams in a double pivot.
If you want to play McKennie, he’s closer suited to our number 10 role where Brenden Aaronson is operating, but that doesn’t seem to be where he’s wanted.
Spending that much on a square peg in a round hole is just awful business.
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