Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur are in the final race to sign Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie in January, AS report.

The Lowdown: McKennie profiled

McKennie, who actually has the same agent as Whites midfielder Adam Forshaw, can play as a central, defensive or right midfielder.

The 23-year-old has 28 caps for the United States and has made 65 appearances for Juventus – 19 of which have come during the current campaign.

He cost Juventus £18.45m from Schalke following a successful loan spell, but it seems as if he could be on the way out of Turin.

The Sun shared a story on the weekend linking Leeds with a £20m move for McKennie, labelled as a ‘rock’ by Andrea Pirlo, and AS have now weighed in with an update.

The Latest: AS report

AS mentioned The Sun’s report and led with a title suggesting Leeds have joined the final race for the USA international.

The report also name-checks Spurs with an interest and add that Marcelo Bielsa believes McKennie could help turn things around at Elland Road, with the Whites aware of his strained relationship with the Italian giants.

The Verdict: No-brainer

Leeds are in desperate need of midfield reinforcements in January, with Kalvin Phillips and Jamie Shackleton, two of their four midfield options, injured at this moment in time.

So, making a move for McKennie, who is admired by both Bielsa and Antonio Conte, could be a shrewd move both in the short and long term. He’d offer Bielsa a versatile midfield option for the second half of the season and can be viewed as a long-term signing as he is still just 23 years of age.

McKennie also has experience in the Champions League, with owner Andrea Radrizzani keen to bring European football to Elland Road in the next three years. They have to remain in the Premier League this season to have any chance of that, though, and McKennie could well help them do just that.

In other news: 'Superb' injured Leeds defender back in training as Bielsa now gets positive Thorp Arch update.