Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Weston McKennie to north London in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Calciomercato (via Sport Witness), who claim that, following Fabio Paratici’s interest in the Juventus midfielder in the summer, the Italian is once again keen on a move for the 24-year-old in the upcoming winter market.
The report goes on to state that, with Massimiliano Allegri’s side needing to raise around €22m (£19m) in order to make Leandro Paredes’ temporary switch from Paris Saint-Germain a permanent move, the Serie A outfit could be willing to sacrifice the USA international in January.
A further report by TuttoJuve also touches upon the fate of both McKennie and Paredes, with it being claimed that, should the former’s performance levels not raise prior to the World Cup this winter, I Bianconeri will look to sell the midfielder for around €20m (£17.5m).
Kulusevski 2.0
Considering the fact that Paratici has enjoyed a great deal of success in bringing Juventus’ unwanted players to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium previously – with both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur highly impressing after their respective moves from Turin to north London – McKennie could well be the sporting director’s next great find from his former club.
Indeed, with the £43.5m-rated talent being incredibly versatile – having played in no less than eight positions over the course of his career, including centre-back, wing-back, defensive midfield, central midfield, attacking midfield and even centre-forward – it is clear that the American would be an extremely useful player for Antonio Conte to be able to call upon at Spurs.
It is also clear that McKennie is a very forward-thinking player – something that Tottenham currently lack in midfield – with FBref ranking him in the top 8% of midfielders in Europe for non-penalty goals per 90, in addition to the top 16% for non-penalty xG, the top 7% for touches in the opposition penalty area and the top 4% for progressive passes received over the last 365 days.
However, the £54k-per-week man also works extremely hard in a defensive capacity, with FBref ranking him in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe for clearances per 90, as well as the top 7% for blocks, the top 9% for interceptions, the top 8% for aerials won and the top 16% for tackles over the past 12 months.
As such, with McKennie being incredibly hard-working, extremely flexible positionally and impressive going forwards, it is not difficult to see why Alasdair Gold stated his belief that the 34-cap international would “tick a lot of boxes” for Conte, as the “outstanding” – in the words of David Wagner – American could well be Paratici’s next Kulusevski-esque find from Juve.
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