Tottenham Hotspur fans may be excited at their potential January signing of Juventus and United States midfielder Weston McKennie.
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the latest transfer news from Hotspur Way.
According to CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs, Juventus are open to selling McKennie for a price of £20m+ this summer, with the Old Lady sitting in a very disappointing seventh in Serie A after 12 games this season, as well as being unable to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
However, the same journalist goes on to say that the club and Antonio Conte are unsure on whether to spend that amount of money on the midfielder, with the reporter saying that his form has been “inconsistent.”
But O’Rourke believes that a good World Cup for McKennie could excite Spurs fans at the prospect of his arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January.
“McKennie has been in the Juventus side this season which have pretty much struggled so far, so they might be willing to listen to offers for him.
“And if he goes to the World Cup and has a good World Cup, Tottenham fans might be excited about the potential of maybe getting Weston McKennie in January.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…
We think that the transfer of McKennie should be a move which Spurs avoid this winter, with the midfielder as of yet hardly showing that he deserves a spot as a regular in the Premier League.
Spurs’ main problem is creativity, but McKennie ranks in the bottom 21% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and European competition for progressive passes per 90 minutes (2.42) over the last 365 days, according to FBref.
As well as this, he only ranks in the top 40% of midfielders for dribbles completed per 90 minutes (0.99), suggesting that he is not the type of player that Spurs need to spend £20m+ on in January.
However, we agree with O’Rourke in a sense, and believe that if McKennie can impress at the Qatar World Cup next month, then we and Spurs may have a different outlook on his potential transfer.