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Jesse Marsch believes January signing Weston McKennie is the perfect fit

  /  autty

Jesse Marsch did plenty of homework before signing Weston McKennie and reckons he can be the perfect fit for the ‘Leeds United States of America’.

The 24-year-old Juventus and USA midfielder arrived this week in a deal that will allow the Whites to buy him in the summer and he could make his debut at Nottingham Forest today.

The increasing Americanisation of Leeds has seen McKennie join his international team-mates Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson at Elland Road.

Marsch, himself a former USA international, said: “When Weston’s name was discussed, I always do my homework and that means talking to people who know him, have played with him, are close to him or have coached him.

“What I heard about Weston was ‘great guy, a great team-mate, a competitor, confident’.

“When I spoke to him, I learned that he was hungry, had a desire to improve and a belief that he has done well in his career but 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 and I felt he was the perfect guy for us.

“It’s a transfer we should be proud of as Leeds United because bringing in a player like him, from Juventus, is a tribute to us as a club.”

The Yorkshire giants’ nickname ‘Leeds United States of America’ grew stronger on Monday night with McKennie’s arrival.

Asked about the Americanisation of Leeds, Marsch reasoned: “It’s funny that it’s worked out this way.

“It would have been easy to bring James Milner back for Premier League 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.”

Marsch has been heavily backed in the transfer market this month with the acquisition of £35.5million club-record signing Georginio Rutter and defender Max Wober for around £11million.

The American boss added: “We believe in building a process where we’re going to pick up some good young players but get them at a price which still makes sense in our budget.

“We’re going to help them to become Premier League stars and in the process help this club get bigger and stronger.”