Sebastian Salazar has stated that Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United picked Weston McKennie over Morocco World Cup star, Azzedine Ounahi, during the January transfer window, as he told ESPN.
The USA pundit added that this possibly shows a ‘vote of confidence’ from the Leeds owners towards the manager, Jesse Marsch because he has brought in another American, despite Ounahi being a ‘pretty good option’ for the Premier League side.
Well, rather than the 22-year-old moving to the Premier League, where there was also interest from Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, he stayed put in France.
Ounahi secured a £7 million transfer from Ligue 1 side Angers to Marseille, after scoring a quite stunning goal on his debut.
That then saw McKennie secure a loan move from Juventus to Leeds, where he links up with national teammates Tyler Adams and Brendan Aaronson.
Nonetheless, USA host Sebastian Salazar spoke about Marsch’s role in picking McKennie during the January window and what that means for the coach.
“I think he (Marsch) might be running towards the punch a little too much here,” said Salazar. “But that’s who Jesse Marsch is. He is saying ‘not only is an American going to come to the Premier League and succeed, but he is also going to do it with other Americans’. He is going to spend this guy’s money on other Americans.
“The other guy Leeds were linked to for this job was Ounahi, remember the number eight that caught everyone’s attention for Morocco at the World Cup? He ends up going to Marseille for not a ton of money.
“It looks like Weston McKennie was chosen over some pretty good other options here by Jesse Marsch and Leeds, if that’s the case, then it’s significant. But also, we had to assume the American ownership are on board with this and it’s a vote of confidence.”
PREMIER LEAGUE TEAMS MISS A TRICK WITH OUNAHI
If Ounahi was a Premier League player, at a lower-end club, and he put in that performance at the World Cup, then there is no chance he goes to Marseille.
Instead, the Premier League teams come knocking for his talents and he moves for an inflated Premier League-taxed price.
It’s a crying shame nobody picked up his talents because he would have been a bargain and a very good purchase for the likes of Leeds and Aston Villa.
Either way, the ball-carrying midfielder is one to look out for because it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s Premier League-bound down the line.
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