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The clause stating Leeds United must sign Weston McKennie on a permanent basis from Juventus in the summer is actually a ‘gentleman’s agreement’.

That’s according to Il Bianconero, who say there is no obligation for Leeds to sign the American on a permanent basis.

He joined Leeds on loan from Juventus at the end of the January transfer window, with the Whites paying an initial €1.25m fee to make it happen.

The deal includes an option to buy for Javi Gracia’s side to make his switch to Elland Road a permanent one, with some reports indicating that they would definitely sign him if they avoided relegation from the Premier League this season and he played a number of games.

That, though, was not a part of the official documentation shared by Juventus and Il Bianconero report today that the clause is actually a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between the two sides.

According to them, Leeds have ‘ticked’ the option to sign McKennie permanently and the chance that they do so ‘remains’, but they haven’t as yet.

Whether they actually exercise the option, which is set at €34.5m plus €4.5m in bonuses, remains to be seen.

But it appears they are not obligated to do so in any shape or form, which means the situation could become very interesting in the coming months should Leeds stay up.