Aston Villa’s interest in Weston McKennie was one of the strangest stories, at least on paper, during the early days of the summer transfer season.
This followed a dismal loan spell at Leeds, who were relegated, forcing the USA international to return to Juventus, where many expected him to be sold.
This is when Aston Villa began sniffing around, with Unai Emery supposedly enthusiastic about the player, and, as Corriere Torino recalls, they made some sort of approach, only to swiftly back away.
The local publication examines how McKennie has improved his status since returning from England, and how he is now an important component of Max Allegri’s ambitions at the Serie A club.
The 25-year-old has started the previous two league games for Juventus, playing as a right midfielder in a 3-5-2 system, demonstrating his versatility.
He was involved in all three goals in Lazio’s 3-1 win, demonstrating how far he has come since the Italians dubbed him’redundant’ following his Leeds stay.
Juventus slapped a €30 million price tag on his back, which was deemed ‘exaggerated’ by interested parties including Aston Villa and Brighton.
The hope was that someone would bite, allowing the funds to be used to purchase one of Sergej Milinkovi-Savi or Franck Kessié, but no offers came in, resulting in the player being reinstated ahead of the pre-season USA tour, mainly for marketing and merchandising purposes.
However, he seized the opportunity with both hands and hasn’t looked back since, now looking completely’regenerated,’ implying that Aston Villa’s refusal to spend €30 million for him worked out well for the Serie A giants.
