Arsenal hijack Leeds' deal for Weston Mckennie?

Carlo Garganese

• 25 Jan 2023 09:57 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal are attempting to hijack Leeds United’s deal to sign Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, according to the Corriere dello Sport.

Leeds have been in negotiations to sign McKennie in recent days, and have already agreed personal terms with the United States international.

It is now down to Leeds and Juventus to agree on a transfer fee to complete the deal, with the Bianconeri hoping to receive a fee of around €30m or more in total.

Premier League 2022/23 January transfers: All the Done Deals

But the Corriere says that Arsenal have now approached Juventus and McKennie and could hijack the deal.

The Gunners are hoping to sign a midfielder before the end of the January transfer window as they aim to win their first Premier League title since 2004. They are also interested in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.

Juventus to sell McKennie

Juventus have made the decision to sell a central midfielder in January as they have far too many players in this department.

The recent emergence of youngsters Fabio Miretti and Nicolo Fagioli has seen McKennie’s status take a hit.

Unpopular with many Juve fans, McKennie does have a lot of interest in the Premier League. Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Tottenham have all been linked with the 24-year-old this month.

McKennie joined Juventus from Schalke in 2020, and has made 65 appearances and scored eight goals.

Juventus are currently in a crisis both on and off the pitch.

They were deducted 15 points last week in the capital gains case - although they will appeal - which has pushed them way down the table and almost certainly unable to qualify for the Champions League.

The club is under a series of investigations for alleged financial mismanagement and could face many more sanctions in Italy and from UEFA, including transfer bans and from European competition.

This scandal led to the entire Juventus board resigning at the end of last year.