Mention Weston McKennie’s name among Leeds United fans and the reaction will be one of frustration. The American is a symbol of what went wrong during the 2022-23 campaign.
Signed by Leeds in January 2023 on a loan-to-buy deal, McKennie joined from Juventus and was seen as a real coup. Bigger Premier League clubs wanted him, but he opted to join some of his USA teammates.
Indeed, Tyler Adams is his best mate and his USA midfield partner while Brenden Aaronson is also a good friend of McKennie’s. Leeds had a gentleman’s agreement with Juve, they would sign him permanently.
A whopping fee of £34.3m would change hands, but only if Leeds stayed up. But of course, that didn’t happen and McKennie returned to Juventus after playing 20 times for Leeds from January onwards.
McKennie scores Champions League goals in 3-1 Juventus win
With his fitness at Leeds under the spotlight, McKennie failed to have any kind of impact in the Leeds midfield. Certainly, Adams’ injury and constantly changing managers cannot have helped McKennie.
He was often a source of criticism from fans as Leeds flopped to relegation. But since his return to The Old Lady, McKennie has sparkled for Juventus. Last season he laid on 10 assists in 38 Juventus games.
This time around, he scored last night in Juventus’ 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. His fifth career goal in the Champions League, but his first since returning to Juve from Leeds, firing the ball home from close range.
What McKennie said about his Leeds spell after exit last summer
Fans were frustrated with McKennie last season given how good he can be, the hype around his signing and the big-club interest in his signature. Not to mention how much he’d cost if Leeds did stay up.
But in a way, for McKennie and for Leeds, it was better The Whites went down in the midfielder’s case. He has even admitted to letting Leeds fans down and feeling regret at doing so, following his Leeds exit.
“I think going to Leeds and having the experience I had there, I may have let some people down. I may have let some fans down who supported Leeds and believed in me,” McKennie said in January.
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