Leeds United completed the loan signing of Juventus' American international midfielder Weston McKennie..
2023-01-31 14:57Leeds United announced on their official website on Monday that the club has signed American international midfielder Weston McKennie on-loan from Juventus.
According to Leeds United's official statement, McKennie will play for the club on-loan until the end of the season, and the agreement does not include a buyout clause. At the same time, he will also wear the No. 28 jersey vacated by the Swiss international right-back Gaetano Berardi who left the club two years ago.
After completing his joining procedures, McKennie, who was interviewed by Leeds United's official website for the first time said: "It feels really good to be a Leeds United player. I heard a lot of great things from Tyler Adams, Brenden Aarronson and Jesse Marsch, and everyone told me a lot about the atmosphere here."
"Obviously I've done my own research on the club and I've had a lot of support and I'm delighted to be here, it's been a dream of mine to play in the Premier League."
"I knew I was going to play with some of my national team-mates and I was sure it would make it easy for me to integrate into the team and it was an easy decision for me."
"I'm very happy to be playing at Elland Road, unfortunately the first two games are away, but when we play at home, I believe that having the support of the fans will get my adrenaline pumping."
"I like playing as a number eight, attacking constantly, trying to create chances and then counter-attacking quickly on the defensive end."
"I want to help the club get as many points as possible in the second half of the season and for myself, I want to do everything I can to help the team win games."
The 24-year-old McKennie was born on August 28, 1998 in Port Lewis, Washington. He is 1.85 meters tall and primarily plays an attacking midfielder, but he can also play as a right midfielder or as a defensive midfielder.
Since his father was an American soldier stationed in Germany, McKennie grew up there locally and received formal football education in the youth academy of a non-league club in Kaiserslautern until he moved back home at the age of 9. After coming back the United States, he moved to the youth academy of Major League Soccer (MLS) side FC Dallas.
At the end of August 2016, McKennie joined Schalke 04 youth academy and completed his first-team debut at the end of May of the following year. During the three years he played for Die Knappen, McKennie became the key player of the team, and his versatility was also appreciated by many people.
At the end of August 2020, McKennie moved to Juventus on a loan with an obligation to buy basis, becoming the first American player in I Bianconeri's history. Subsequently, his ownership was officially bought out in March 2021.
During his two-and-a-half-year stint at Juventus, McKennie won 1 Coppa Italia and 1 Supercoppa Italiana with the club.
During the first half of this season, McKennie represented the Serie A giants in 21 games across all competitions, scoring 3 goals and assisting 2 times.
It is worth mentioning that with the arrival of McKennie, this also means that there are 3 American players in the current Leeds United team. Previously, the Premier League club has also signed Tyler Adams and Brenden Aarronson.
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