Player ‘contributed to relegation’ at Leeds United – Pundit doesn’t ‘want to destroy’, but questions level

Juventus lost 4-2 to Sassuolo on Saturday, and the Turin club’s good start to the season has come to an end.

They currently find themselves in fourth place, five points behind Inter Milan after four matches. Whilst that’s obviously not disastrous, it’s seen some already question their title-winning credentials.

In the first weeks of the season, Weston McKennie had been getting lashings of praise after his return from Leeds United.

Juventus hadn’t wanted him to return, with their hope being Leeds United would buy the player on a permanent basis. However, the Elland Road club’s relegation to the Championship made that impossible.

Juve then looked to place him elsewhere but weren’t able to find a solution, and he had to be reintegrated to the squad. That worked well, and McKennie showed a level much better than what he displayed at Leeds United.

There was always the distinct chance that the praise would slip away and be replaced by criticism, and that’s happened very quickly.

Sassuolo was his worst performance of the season so far and he was taken off around the hour mark.

Paolo Di Canto, now a prominent pundit in Italy, has had his say on the player’s level and it’s not gushing.

Calciomercato quote him as saying: “McKennie is loaned to Leeds and contributed to their relegation, can he be a regular in a team that wins the championship? I don’t want to destroy the player by saying that he is not capable, but there are values.”