It’s no secret that Leeds have made some bad signings over the past few years. One of their biggest disappointments has been signing Jean-Kevin Augustine, but this isn’t the worst signing Leeds have made.
On the other end of the scale, there has been one player who has been even worse than Augustin in terms of their commitment and performance.
Weston McKennie was a loan signing from Juventus, but Wainman believes he was even worse.
While the loan deal didn’t have a huge financial impact, McKennie’s poor performance and lack of commitment meant he was one of Leeds’ worst signings.
Let’s take a look at one of the worst signings Leeds have made in the past. The Whites have gone through a difficult period for many years now.
Despite spending around £131m on new signings in the summer and January ahead of last season’s promotion to the top flight, the Yorkshire club have failed to bring in big-name players like Marc Roca and Tyler Adams, as well as on loan and on a permanent basis, or have gone back to their parent clubs after a loan spell.
The club have made some poor signings in the past, most notably that of Augustin from Red Bull Salzburg. Wainman reckons this isn’t even close to the worst signing the club have made.
The German striker signed for Leeds for £40m last summer, with the club initially willing to pay just £15m after negotiating a clause in Augustin’s contract that allowed them to buy him for £40m. Now, however, FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Body has ordered Leeds to pay an additional £24,5m.
The £30m Leeds United star seemed disinterested – Joe Wainman
Wainman reckons Weston McKennie (on loan from Juventus with a £30m buy-back option) was worse than Augustin. Wainman says: “McKennie didn’t seem interested and Leeds haven’t seen anything of the player who was so high up the pecking order at one stage of his career.”
“I would say so yeah. The mad thing is, I’m that vitriolic towards last season and the demise of the football club with the poor acquisitions that we made and the coach that was in charge in Jesse Marsch, that I would say with chest that Weston McKennie is arguably a worse signing than JKA and JKA played about 15 minutes. That’s how strongly I feel about that. He seemed disinterested. We saw nowhere near the player that he’s shown in the past, as you’ve mentioned.”
Is McKennie one of Leeds’ worst ever signings?
McKennie certainly didn’t live up to expectations in a Leeds jersey, and if that clause was an ‘obligation to buy’ at £30m rather than an ‘option’ then it could easily have been the worst deal they’ve ever made.
Leeds had the American on loan this season, so from a financial point of view it certainly wasn’t the worst deal, but there’s no denying he didn’t have a great season.
| Weston McKennie | Leeds United Premier League Stats |
|---|---|
| Starts | 16 |
| Subbed Off | 7 |
| Yellow Cards | 7 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Match Rating | 6.47 |
| All stats as per FotMob | |
Leeds were in desperate need of a fighting striker as they fought their way to the foot of the table, and McKennie will undoubtedly go down in infamy as one of the summer’s worst signings.
