“Born winner” Mark McKenzie has the potential to play for Arsenal once he hones his considerable defensive talents with Belgian giants Genk, former USA international Oguchi Onyewu has told Het Nieuwsblad.
Onyewu may not have fulfilled the potential that once saw Newcastle United and AC Milan take a punt on the young centre-half more than a decade ago.
But the early signs suggest McKenzie could go one step further than his former Philadelphia Union teammate and make a name for himself at the very top of the European game.
The Bronx-born 22-year-old joined Genk in a £4 million deal two months ago.
And although McKenzie has yet to make his mark in Belgium, starting just four of the past eight league fixtures, Onyewu believes the ball-playing centre-half may be strutting his stuff for one of England’s biggest clubs before long.
“Mark is enjoying himself in Genk,” Onyewu says of McKenzie.
“I’m not worried about him at all. That boy is a born winner. It could just be that he plays for Arsenal in two to three years.
“(During our time together at Philadelphia Union) I saw in him someone with a lot of potential. I took him under my wing. I kind of became his guide in professional football. When I heard he was going to sign for Genk, I of course congratulated him.
“It’s a good club, not as good as (my former team) Standard Liege, of course, but still ok!”
Interestingly, Arsenal have been linked with a summer swoop for another highly rated Jupiler League centre-back – Club Brugge’s Ivory Coast international Odilon Kossounou.
Celtic, meanwhile, were keen to sign McKenzie last year – the Hoops’ interest confirmed by Philadelphia Union themselves.
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