As expected, Leeds United have signed Weston McKennie to strengthen their central midfield. The ex-Schalke, previously in the service of Juventus Turin, was officially presented on Monday evening. The 24-year-old will initially switch to the Whites for a reported rental fee of 1.2 million euros, who have a purchase option in the summer. According to reports, this is around EUR 33 million and can increase to around EUR 40 million through bonuses. Among all US footballers, only Christian Pulisic was more expensive in his €64m move from Dortmund to Chelsea in 2018/19 (to overview).
There had recently been initial contacts between Leeds and Juve regarding a transfer of 24-year-old McKennie, which were intensified over the weekend and have now been concluded. For the right-footed player, who was also traded at Aston Villa at the start of the transfer window, the Premier League is the third top European league of his career. Between 2017 and 2020 he made 91 appearances for the royal blues, and so far he has played five more games for the “Old Lady”, who had transferred 20.5 million euros to the “Knappen” for McKennie’s services.
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At Leeds, the 41-time US international, who still has a contract in Turin until 2025, meets coach and compatriot Jesse Marsch, who had already signed his USMNT colleagues Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson before the midfielder. Overall, McKennie could become the tenth American in the club’s history at Leeds. So far this winter, Hoffenheim striker Georginio Rutter and Salzburg defender Maximilian Wöber have been signed for a total of 40 million euros, making the Whites the club with the fifth most spending worldwide so far in this transfer window.
The first version of the article appeared on January 24th and was successively updated until the fixed message
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