leeds united contract next summer stanley nwabali to replace Illan Stéphane Meslier
A Football Insider report has surfaced stating that despite starting all three of Leeds United’s Championship matches so far this season, the Whites’ hierarchy still plan to offload Illan Meslier before the end of the summer transfer window.
The outlet believes the club are content to move forward with this plan, as they face Ipswich Town in their final league match before the deadline on August 26th.
Meslier has featured against Cardiff City, Birmingham City and latterly West Bromwich Albion so far this campaign, but is yet to keep a clean sheet despite being one of the most highly-reputable goalkeepers across the Championship, in what has been a difficult start to the season for Daniel Farke’s men amid murmurs of discontent and an injury crisis to key players.
The crisis led to Farke only naming seven substitutes in Friday’s home draw with the Baggies, which included both of Meslier’s deputies: Karl Darlow and Kristoffer Klaeson.
Meslier has been at Elland Road since the summer of 2019, having initially signed from Ligue 1 side FC Lorient on a season-long loan under Marcelo Bielsa.
As a result of Kiko Casilla’s suspension in early 2020, Meslier’s first start came in a 4-0 success against Hull City, and has since established himself as the number one goalkeeper at the club.
Since the club returned to the Premier League, the Frenchman made 107 appearances in the top flight before Sam Allardyce opted to feature Joel Robles in his unsuccessful attempt to preserve Leeds’ status in May.
Earlier on in the window, Football Insider also reported that Leeds had dropped their asking price for the shot-stopper, but still value him as an asset with an asking price between £20m and £25m after initially placing a £40m valuation on his head when the club were in the midst of their Premier League relegation dogfight.
This still represents a significant profit on the fee they paid for him. One year later, he would sign his current contract which runs for another two summers, making him one of few players who could garner the Whites significant funds to help their financial cause.
Throughout the summer, there has been a decent amount of speculation regarding Meslier’s future.
Earlier in the window, the former French youth International was linked to the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham. However, with all three clubs opting to look elsewhere, this has left the player and Leeds in a difficult situation.
In recent days, Manchester City were said to have been offered a whole host of goalkeepers, which included Meslier as a result of backup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega’s potential transfer to Bayern Munich. However, this transfer is said to be falling through as Pep Guardiola isn’t interested in adding to his goalkeeper union with the replacements on offer.
Spanish giants Real Madrid have emerged as a surprise link with the 23-year-old as a result of Thibaut Courtois’ long-term absence, but an initial offer hasn’t been made yet.
This is definitely a transfer saga worth casting an eye on in the latter stages of the window.
A move to a Premier League giant may not be out of the question – but it remains to be seen whether any formal offers come in.
The player still has three years left on his contract, so the Whites are in a very strong position at the negotiating table.
