Leeds United flop could make Premier League return as Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa show interest
The latest transfer talk from St James Park as Newcastle United plan for a hectic summer transfer window.
Newcastle United have been named as one of three Premier League clubs willing to offer Weston McKennie a second chance in the Premier League.
The United States international was a high profile loan signing for Leeds United during the January 2023 transfer window as he linked up with fellow countryman Jesse Marsch at Elland Road. Although there were high hopes for the Juventus midfielder, his time with the Whites turned into something of a nightmare as he failed to live up to expectations during a desperately disappointing end to the season.
After making his debut as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, McKennie did impress on his first start as Marsch’s side battled to a 2-2 away draw against Manchester United just three days later. However, as his temporary employers embarked on a disastrous run of form, the former Schalke 04 star also struggled, winning in just three of his 19 Premier League appearances for the club. His final appearance came on the last day of the season as the Whites suffered a 4-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur that condemned them to relegation into the Championship.
Speaking months after his departure from Elland Road, McKennie told Sky Italy: “I didn’t have the best performances. I felt I let certain people down. But at the end of the day, when I came back, I think it was important for me in general to have an experience like that, to have that happen to me at this moment of my career, because when I came back it felt like I was coming back here for the first time again.
“When I first came to Juventus, nobody knew who I was, everybody doubted me, everybody was against me, and I think it was important for me because it put chips back on my shoulder. That’s when I perform best and prove that I can do it and that I belong, so it was nice to come back and have that feeling again.”
To his credit, McKennie has quickly moved on from his underwhelming stint at Elland Road and has become a key player at Juventus once again. The all-action midfielder has provided ten assists in 38 appearances in all competitions for Max Allegri’s side as they ended the season in third place in Serie A, four points behind AC Milan and a further 19 points adrift of runaway champions Inter Milan. However, there was some success for McKennie as he played the entire 90 minutes of Juve’s Coppa Italia Final win against newly crowned Europa League champions Atalanta earlier this month.
His performances upon his return to Italy have captured the attention of several clubs around Europe as he enters the final year of his current deal at the Allianz Stadium. One report from Italian outlet TuttoJuve has suggested Newcastle, Everton and Aston Villa are all keen on bringing McKennie back to the Premier League and a permanent basis and revealed Juve would accept an offer between £15m and £20m to avoid losing the midfielder on a free transfer next summer.