Leeds United

“Magnificent” Leeds United man started to justify £29million agreement on Tuesday night – Our View

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Leeds United midfielder Weston McKennie could be bought permanently by the club in the summer from Juventus, where he is currently on loan from.

The Whites pushed hard in the January window to make improvements in the hope of staying in the division. They made three three signings to bolster the defence, midfield, and attack under then manager Jesse Marsch.

McKennie was the final of those three signings, joining from Juventus on an initial loan deal, with Leeds holding the option to buy him for €33million, per Fabrizio Romano.

He is looking to earn a move to Elland Road on a permanent basis, and has been a frequent fixture within the starting XI so far under new manager Javi Gracia.

That includes a start against Nottingham Forest in the vital 2-1 win in mid-week, where most Leeds fans were delighted with his performance both inside the ground and on social media.

Quiz: How much do you know about Leeds United's January recruit Weston McKennie? Find out here…

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What club did Leeds sign the midfielder from?

Here, our writers Adam (Statto) and Kris (FA5) discuss whether that was his best performance in a Leeds shirt ahead of a potential permanent move this summer.

It absolutely was his best performance so far in a Leeds shirt. He was a huge part of securing the win despite there being many fantastic performers on the night for Gracia’s men.

The midfield has probably never looked as good as it did against Forest all season, with McKennie working in tandem with Marc Roca at the base of Leeds’ midfield.

The pair were everywhere and able to get forward often as well, and not just act as screening players in front of the back four. McKennie is making his presence known and giving Leeds something to think about this summer in terms of his move potentially becoming permanent.

He was magnificent both on and off the ball, which has been the issue recently. He has perhaps done well in one of those aspects but not the other, but this was a complete and fully put together performance at last.

It’s essential that he and Roca stay fit and play like this for the run-in, given Tyler Adams’ injury issues.

Coming into this game, I was of the opinion that McKennie has struggled to justify to the fans why he was commanding a £29million fee for this summer, but this game was proof of why.

He was absolutely everywhere for the whole game, and while we already knew he was going to improve how we worked without the ball, his range of passing was exemplary too.

Leeds have often relied on Marc Roca to be the man that can move the ball about well, but McKennie took the reins quite often on Tuesday, and was very comfortable taking the ball under pressure from the Forest midfield, a great facet to his game.

He worked it into wide areas with both feet, evaded pressure well, and came in with a few immense challenges, including that beauty on Neco Williams in the second half:

Would you be happy if Leeds paid €33m for McKennie?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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