Weston McKennie slammed over Leeds United relegation by Paolo Di Canio after Juventus embarrassment
Weston McKennie isn’t good enough to be a Juventus regular after he contributed to the relegation of Leeds United on loan, according to Paolo Di Canio.
The former West Ham star spoke on Sky Sports in Italy, via Calcio Mercato (25 September), after the Old Lady were embarrassed 4-2 by Sassuolo on Saturday (23 September) who had been struggling near the bottom of Serie A coming into the game.
The 55-year-old, who spent three seasons at Juve early in his career, claimed he didn’t want to “destroy” the American midfielder, but that there were “values” associated with being a starter for the Italian giants and being part of the Whites’ relegation suggested the opposite.
Di Canio said: “The level is missing on the pitch, because those who may have grown up within the environment are young guys and don’t have this great personality with all due respect. They have qualities, but they don’t seem like born leaders to me. Danilo? Being a serious professional is different from being a leader.
“McKennie is loaned to Leeds and contributes to their relegation, can he be a regular in a team that wins the Championship? I don’t want to destroy the player by saying that he is not capable, but there are values.
“In that area the chain was [Federico] Gatti-[Fabio] Miretti-McKennie. How many teams would these three players play for? Not only in those fighting for the championship. Are they starting players to win the championship?”.
Struggle
Nobody, including McKennie, would argue that his loan move to Elland Road worked out for anyone involved, and while he has been singled out for the ire of fans on some occasions he is far from alone in being a failed acquisition last season.
Juventus were hoping to get rid of him permanently as part of the agreement, but relegation to the Championship scuppered that.
His return to Turin this season appeared to be working out surprisingly positively, but a player who was surplus to requirements so recently is always going to become a target after such a poor result.
That Willy Gnonto, Georginio Rutter and Darko Gyabi are the only players brought in across last season that are currently at the club tells its own story of the final knockings of the Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani era.
McKennie showed brief signs of quality early on, but Tyler Adams’ injury soon after arguably robbed him of the partnership he was brought in to develop and everything went downhill from there.
If he is now coming in for this sort of criticism back at Juventus he probably needs a move elsewhere permanently to find some stability after what has been anything but an enjoyable 2023 for the 25-year-old.
In other Leeds United news, leading Whites pair have appeared to flourish despite tactical handicap that leaves Daniel Farke with a conundrum.