Leeds United appear to be closer to agreeing a deal to bring Weston McKennie to Elland Road in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Sky Sports Italia, who claim that, despite Victor Orta’s opening offer of €28m (£25m) plus bonuses being turned down by Juventus – with the Serie A side said to be looking for a total figure of €35m in order to part with the midfielder – the Premier League club are not increasing their bid for the 24-year-old just yet.
The report goes on to suggest that this is down to the Whites believing that they are the club who hold the strongest interest in the USMNT international, with there said to be a feeling at Elland Road that negotiations between the two clubs could reach a turning point in the coming days, with Sky claiming that January 30 could be the day in which a deal is done.
“Absolute steal”
Considering just how talented a midfielder McKennie has undoubtedly proven himself to be at Juventus, coupled with the 24-year-old already boasting an extremely impressive relationship with Leeds’ own Tyler Adams from the USA side, should Orta manage to get a £25m deal over the line for the midfielder this winter, it would undoubtedly represent a steal for the Whites.
Indeed, over his 34 Serie A appearances in his debut campaign with the Bianconeri back in 2020/21, the £26.5m-rated talent highly impressed going forwards, scoring five goals, providing two assists and creating five big chances, as well as taking an average of 0.9 shots, making 0.8 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles – at a success rate of 83% – per game.
The £54k-per-week midfielder also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of one tackle, 0.8 interceptions, 0.7 clearances and winning 2.6 duels – at a success rate of 43% – per match, in addition to playing an average of 0.7 long balls, 0.9 chipped passes and completing 18.9 total passes – at a success rate of 85% – per fixture.
These returns saw the 24-year-old – who TEAMtalk journalist James Marshment claimed would be a “superb addition” to Jesse Marsch’s squad and Evan Cooper suggested would be an “absolute steal” for his asking price – average an eye-catching Sofascore statistical rating of 6.86 – a rating that would currently rank him as Leeds’ eighth-best performer in the Premier League.
As such, with Marsch needing to replace the recently departed central midfielder Mateusz Klich this winter, coupled with McKennie looking to make an exceptional fit for the Whites and potentially being available for less than his current market valuation, landing the 24-year-old for just £25m would indeed appear to be something of an absolute steal for Orta.
