Leeds: A £3 million per goal contribution flop left the Whites bleeding to death..

Leeds: The flop who cost the Whites £3 million per goal contributed to their demise.

A botched short-term acquisition really got the Whites down.

Last season, Leeds United took a number of steps to help them maintain their Premier League status, but ultimately, their efforts were futile. They jumped into the Championship like a stone, and the results were expected to be profound.

Jesse Marsch was only fired in February, giving Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce little time to clean up the mess he had made. It appears that the hierarchy was more focused on changing the playing team than it was on the managerial staff.

The Whites had given the American tactician both of the transfer windows from that season, allowing him to first sell vast riches in the summer before breaking their club record move in January, which made the timing of his dismissal so absurd.

He must bear a large portion of the blame for the team’s shortcomings that year, as his pairing with Victor Orta resulted in some of the worst tactical choices in the club’s recent history.

That does not mean, however, that the players were blame-free; a few of the team downed tools despite having a chance of surviving if they played until the end of the campaign. 15 players left the club this summer, a sign of the lack of dedication displayed to the organization, despite Daniel Farke’s skillful management of the precarious window.

Who had a successful season for Leeds United?

There were a few significant players who did hold their own despite the difficult season faced in a year where it seemed like nobody really stood out.

One such name was Tyler Adams, who according to Sofascore had the highest player rating among players who made five or more starts with an average match rating of 6.98.

Another standout was Rodrigo, whose 13 league goals provided the only offensive thrust as they battled to keep the ball out of their own net.

But given how the phrase is used, it makes more sense to focus on individuals who didn’t perform for Marsch, Gracia, and Allardyce. One such figure that immediately comes to mind is Weston McKennie, who was hired by the former in what many people perceived to be a fairly cunning business move.

The USA international was also hailed by commentator Tony Dorigo for his ability to succeed right away: “With Klichy [Mateusz Klich] out, the [Weston] McKennie move is just fantastic because we need that box-to-box guy. I wanted McKennie, and I’m glad we got him because I saw him a lot at Juventus and I know precisely what he can do, even though we [Leeds] were linked with other players.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old quickly disproved the former Whites player, and his nondescript performances started to appear frequently in Yorkshire. He would only manage a 6.67 average rating on Sofascore, recording just one assist and going scoreless in 19 outings.

It was made worse by the way he identified himself when he joined: “The eight role, box-to-box, trying to generate moves, get back defensively. I prefer to be able to attack and defend myself freely.

Nevertheless, despite the opportunity provided by his defensive compatriot Adams, Adams hardly ever left his impact on a league match before leaving at the end of his loan. However, before he left, former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor had made an effort to emphasize how he felt by saying: “I’d tell them not to come back to pre-season. They’re not up to par: Koch, Struijk, Ayling, Firpo, Kristensen.

“McKennie as well, I don’t know how he got a game for Juventus — because he’s terrible.”

What did Leeds United pay Weston McKennie?

McKennie was always going to earn a hefty wage, even if it was only for a six-month stint, coming from a team the magnitude of Juventus. After all, if he had led their effort to survive, any cost would have been more than justified.

His £75k weekly salary made for a horrible piece of business because he did not, perhaps failing to make any impression at all.

This required the Yorkshire outfit to pay the dismal dud £2 million in salary alone. Not to mention the £1 million loan fee they paid to the Turin team, which seemed to only make this terrible transaction worse.

As a result, the team really ended up spending £3 million for the single goal he contributed.

How much money has Weston McKennie made thus far in his career?

Despite first building a reputation with FC Dallas, it was FC Schalke of the Bundesliga who gave McKennie his first chance to excel in one of the top leagues. He has since moved throughout Europe for the majority of his career.

He quickly established himself as a key member of the German team, and he received fair compensation for them.

His salaries continued to rise after he joined the Italian powerhouse Juventus, which further increased his overall career earnings. He has so amassed €14.96m (£12.8m) over stints with Leeds and the two aforementioned teams.

When does the contract with Weston McKennie end?

His contract with the Whites expired at the beginning of last summer because his time at Elland Road was simply a temporary loan arrangement. However,

if they had remained in the league, they would have had the option to buy him for £30 million under the terms of the contract.

Thankfully, they did not have to use this one, especially in light of the harsh criticism leveled at them by journalist Giancarlo Padovan: “I suppose he hurts everywhere he plays. The evidence is in the facts. He left England after having a really negative experience there.

It is unknown whether he will be awarded a new contract considering that his present one expires in 2025 despite having subsequently returned to Juventus and having a decent Serie A season to date.

Had Weston McKennie earned that much money justly?

It is fair to say that McKennie absolutely did not deserve to earn anywhere near as much money as he did for what he contributed while working at Leeds.

Given his recent performances for the Old Lady, he might, however, be a fair value for Turin’s current contract.

After all, according to Sofascore, his 7.23 average rating is the seventh-highest in his team, maintaining 0.7 critical passes and 2.3 tackles each game.

In a recent news conference, he stated: “Coming back to Juventus wasn’t easy. I’ve since conceded that my return to the club has reignited my passion to prove people wrong. I suppose you might say that I left the club during a difficult moment. And so, upon returning, I experienced a sense of starting again from scratch, but that is a challenge I am always ready for and one that I believe I needed at this point in my career to demonstrate to others that I still have it.

It’s fair to say that his current performance is showing that, which may make Leeds supporters wonder where those performances were when they most needed him.

 

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Andrea Radrizzani blames Leeds United’s collapse on “it didn’t work” and makes a prediction about the future owners
In addition to defending several elements of his career with the Whites, Andrea Radrizzani has commented on the reasons for Leeds United’s downfall.

The Aser Ventures Group, owned by Italian entrepreneur Radrizzani, first invested in Leeds by acquiring 50% of the team in January 2017 before completing a 100% buyout at the conclusion of the 2016–17 season.

Then, in the summer of 2020, Leeds finally broke their 16-year exile from the top flight of the nation by winning promotion as the Championship champions. However, the Whites are now back in the second tier as a result of last season’s relegation after narrowly avoiding the drop on the final day of the previous term.

The club has subsequently been taken over by 49ers Enterprises, who acquired the majority of Radrizzani’s remaining shares this summer. The club’s previous chairman has expressed confidence in the team’s future while also highlighting United’s overall progress while his leadership.

When Angus Kinnear, the company’s chief executive, was interviewed for The Square Ball podcast and asked about the Whites’ “blame,” Radrizzani responded on Twitter: My own too. first to bear blame for a mistake.

“We all did a good job for few years, but in the end it didn’t work,” the Italian continued. The club is now in good hands, and I have no doubt that it will quickly recover stronger. These would be viewed in a few years as a stage in the club’s growth and consolidation. Let’s continue.

We achieved marvels for a few years and (went) back to the Premier League after 16 years, Radrizzani remarked in response to another admirer. Not awful at all, really.