George Overhill

Sat 28 January 2023 16:10, UK

Weston McKennie will travel to England in the next 24 hours to sign his contract as a new Leeds United player, Fabrizio Romano reports.

A deal has been struck to send the American midfielder to Elland Road for the rest of the season, with an option to buy at the end of the season after extensive negotiations over the past week.

The player is now due for a medical and paperwork before the end of the weekend to complete his move ahead of the transfer deadline.

Reporting on Twitter Romano said: “Weston McKennie will travel to England in the next 24h to undergo medical test and sign the contract as new Leeds Utd player.

“€1.2m loan fee, €33m plus add-ons as buy option, personal terms agreed. Move confirmed.”

Making moves

It isn’t 100% safe until he arrives at Elland Road and completes the final stages but thankfully for Whites fans it seems the club have got this one over the line before the threat of a late hijack.

This looks like being a fruitful weekend all round after Jesse Marsch’s side reached the fifth round of the FA Cup with relative ease thanks to a 3-1 victory at Accrington Stanley.

Club-record signing Georginio Rutter played in that game and gave a good account of himself, and if McKennie can do the same over the rest of the campaign his potential permanent deal will come close the same value.

Leeds United have now strengthened extensively this month to guard against the threat of relegation, and next it is up to the players and the coaching staff to make sure it works.

Spending so much money in January and still going down is almost unthinkable, so it will be necessary to use the FA Cup win as a springboard to start a run, with the reinforcements integrated along the way.

Fans will be hotly anticipating the link-up between McKennie and his international captain Tyler Adams, as long as there is no late drama to this move.

In other Leeds United news, a pundit was challenged live on air over his heavy criticism of the club.