Apparently McKennie is admired by Tottenham’s sporting director Fabio Paratici, and Spurs have been linked with a move for the USMNT midfielder once again.
As for Lingard, well, he’s a wanted man and he’s out of contract this summer as a move away from Manchester United this month seems very likely. Below we dig a little deeper on both reports.
Weston McKennie ‘loved’ by Tottenham
A report from Football.London states that Paratici wants to sign McKennie from Juventus, but Totten-ham may have to wait until the summer to sign the USMNT midfielder.
McKennie, 23, has been superb in recent weeks for Juventus and per the report, he is seen as essen-tial to Max Allegri’s plans for the rest of this season as Juve chase a top four finish in Serie A and a deep run in the UEFA Champions league. That means he won’t be leaving Turin in January, but the report states that Paratici has let McKennie’s agent know that Tottenham want to sign him.
Paratici’s admiration for McKennie is clear. He’s been linked with a move to Tottenham multi-ple times in recent months and Paratici signed him from Schalke before he left Juve for Tottenham.
Adding to the admiration is the fact that McKennie is exactly what Tottenham need to re-vamp their midfield.
Spurs have so many similar central midfielders from a defensive or attacking standpoint but no true No. 8. McKennie can play that role perfectly, and also play wide, in a deeper central role or even fill in at wing-back if needed. Antonio Conte loves that kind of flexibility.
The strengths of the USMNT midfielder will be well-suited to the Premier League and Tottenham may have to splash out over $40 million to sign him this summer. It will be money well spent as it ad-dresses a key need, while Conte is clearly ready to offload attacking midfielders Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso to strengthen in other areas.
Newcastle make another move for Lingard Mul-tiple reports, including this one from Fabrizio Romano, state that Newcastle have gone back in for Jesse Lingard after having a previous offer rebuffed.
The Manchester United and England winger, 29, is out of contract this summer at Old Trafford and it is believed Newcastle have offered to take him on a six-month loan to help boost their survival hopes in the Premier League.
Lingard spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham United, where he was a revelation.—AFP
