Arsenal are not currently working on a transfer move for Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, but Tottenham wanted him a year ago, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Romano says we’ll have to see if the Gunners look into a deal for McKennie in the future, but he added that he’s unsure if the USA international is precisely the kind of player Mikel Arteta needs in that area of his squad anyway.
Arsenal were notably linked with Youri Tielemans and Douglas Luiz in the summer, so it makes sense that a midfielder could be on their agenda again soon, but Romano doesn’t necessarily expect McKennie to be a priority for them.
As for Spurs, it seems they wanted McKennie on loan, but Juventus weren’t keen to let the 24-year-old leave on a temporary deal.
“Arsenal are not working on a deal for McKennie as of today; then we will see in January,” Romano said.
“He was a target for Tottenham one year ago, nothing happened as Juventus never wanted to let him go on loan.
“I think Arsenal need a different kind of midfielder, more dynamic.”
Romano has previously made it clear just how highly he rates Tielemans, describing the Leicester City midfielder, who is now only a few months away from being a free agent, as the perfect signing for Arsenal.
“Youri Tielemans was always an option but Arsenal didn’t want to spend £35m on a player who would be out of contract in a few months, that’s why it was never close,” Romano explained.
“Arsenal only sign players when they’re 100% convinced, but, in my opinion, Tielemans was the perfect player for Arteta.”
It will be interesting to see what happens with McKennie this January, but it’s easy to imagine a few of the big Premier League clubs taking a look at him.