WESTON HERO IS SET TO FIT IN PERFECTLY AT JESSE’S LEEDS UNITED STATES
JESSE MARSCH did his homework before signing Weston Mckennie – and believes he will have a big impact at the club.
The USA midfielder, 24, arrived this week in a loan deal that will allow the Whites to buy him from Juventus in the summer.
He joins fellow countrymen Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson at Elland Road and could feature at Nottingham Forest today.
Leeds boss Marsch (right), a former USA international, said: “Weston and I had met as acquaintances a couple of times – but it’s not as if we knew each other.
“When Weston’s name was discussed in terms of having him here, I always do my homework and that means talking to people who know him, have played with him, are close to him or coached him.
“What I heard about Weston was that he’s a great guy, a great team-mate, a competitor, confident.
“When I then spoke to him, what I learned was that he was hungry, had a desire to improve and a belief that he has done well in his career but that he has so much more to achieve and learn.
“When I combined all that with watching him over the years, signing Weston became a no-brainer. To be honest, it’s a transfer we should be proud of at Leeds because bringing in a player like him, from Juventus, is a tribute to us as a club.
“We want to grow our stature but in terms of where we are now it’s a big signing – and I think he’s going to help us a lot.”
The Yorkshire giants’ nickname, ‘Leeds United States of America’ grew stronger on Monday when Mckennie arrived.
USA captain Adams crept up on Mckennie while he was giving his first interview as a Leeds player and then took on journalistic duties himself.
Asked about the Americanisation of Leeds, Marsch added: “It’s funny that it’s worked out this way.
It would’ve been easy to go after and bring James Milner back for experience or other veteran players who understand the league.
“But in some ways it’s a little bit brave in what we’re doing – you could say risky.
“Six months ago I wouldn’t have thought Weston would be an option or necessarily the right fit, but given where we were, I felt he was the perfect guy.
“He was always on our list and he was the right time for the right fit.” Marsch has been backed in the transfer market this month with the acquisition of £35.5million club-record signing Georginio Rutter and defender Max Wober for around £11m.
He said: “We’re going to help them to become Premier League stars.”