Sky Sports pundit wowed by what Andrea Pirlo said about new Leeds United star Weston McKennie
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Paul Robinson is excited by the prospect of Weston McKennie at Leeds United after the USA midfielder was signed from Juventus on Monday.
McKennie, 24, has joined the Whites on an initial loan deal with the expectation for the move to be made permanent in the summer transfer window.
According to Sky Sports on 30 January, United have the option to buy McKennie for £30million at the end of the season, although they will be obliged to do so if they meet “certain criteria”.
Texas-born McKennie joined Juventus from Schalke in 2020 and went on to play 96 times in all competitions for the Italian giants, with 21 of those outings coming this season.
The fact he’s been a regular player for Juve excites Robinson, who’s also buzzing with the signing because Italy legend Andrea Pirlo is also a big fan of the new Leeds midfielder.
“Leeds have signed a player who the manager is clearly familiar with,” Robinson told MOT Leeds News.
“They’ve taken advantage of Juventus’ situation with where they are. It seems like there’s been unrest there.
“It’s not like he’s been a bit-part player at Juve – he’s played a lot. He’s been playing as a defensive midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder with the way he’s played and the biggest compliment you can pay him is that Andrea Pirlo signed him.
“All you have to do is look at Pirlo’s quotes about how he respected McKennie and what he thought of him as a player. It tells you a lot for somebody of his quality to have that admiration for a player. It speaks volumes.
“This could be one that you look at and think, ‘oh, it’s another American signing and the manager’s been given too much freedom to sign him’. But I think this one could be a really, really good signing with Leeds taking advantage of the Juventus situation and is at a young age.
“For the price they’ve paid, it could be a good signing”
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