Former Leeds United midfielder awaits Premier League move as Aston Villa talks 'stall' and Tottenham linked

Former Leeds United loanee Weston McKennie looks set for a Premier League move this summer - although reports suggest it may not be with previous front-runners Aston Villa.

McKennie is expected to leave Juventus this summer after being informed by the Serie A side that he is free to find football elsewhere, despite enjoying a solid campaign back in Turin. The American played 38 games across all competitions and registered seven assists as his side qualified for the Champions League and won the Copa Italia.

That form has caught the eye of some Premier League clubs and McKennie was reportedly set to be a makeweight in Juve’s pursuit of Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, with Unai Emery keen on the deal. But after days of silence, The Telegraph reports that talks have stalled and other top-flight teams could swoop in, naming Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as long-term admirers.

Additional claims elsewhere of £15million talks between Juventus and Tottenham have since been rebuffed, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that despite slow progress, negotiations with Aston Villa are still ongoing. McKennie’s future remains up in the air but is looking increasingly likely to be back in the Premier League.

Interested parties have been able to look past a dismal loan spell at Elland Road in which McKennie registered just one assist in 20 appearances as Leeds were relegated to the Championship. The midfielder was initially signed by Jesse Marsch but played just 33 minutes under his compatriot before he was sacked after a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

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McKennie has been honest about his below-par performances for Leeds but insists the difficult experience made him stronger upon returning to Juventus. He will be out to prove himself in the Premier League once again, regardless of where he ends up.

"I didn’t have the best performances,” McKennie told Sky Sports Italy in November. “I felt I let certain people down. But at the end of the day, when I came back, I think it was important for me in general to have an experience like that, to have that happen to me at this moment of my career, because when I came back it felt like I was coming back here for the first time again.

“When I first came to Juventus, nobody knew who I was, everybody doubted me, everybody was against me, and I think it was important for me because it put chips back on my shoulder. That’s when I perform best and prove that I can do it and that I belong, so it was nice to come back and have that feeling again."

McKennie will play alongside former Leeds teammates Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams at this summer’s Copa America, which kicks off in the early hours of Friday morning. The USA are in Group C alongside Bolivia, Panama and Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay. Whites fans will have a vested interest in results over the Atlantic, following last week’s report from the YEP that Aaronson has decided to stay and fight for promotion with Leeds, following positive talks with manager Daniel Farke.