Illan Meslier makes complicated situation admission at Leeds United amidst interest from Chelsea and Tottenham
Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier admits of his complicated situation at the club amidst interest from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Frenchman was linked with a move to either of the London clubs in the January window. But, no business was done at the time.
Since then, his performance levels at Leeds dropped and he was taken out of the team by Sam Allardyce who came in to manage the team for the final four games.
With Leeds now relegated back to the Championship after three seasons in the top-flight, there might be a situation where quite a few of the first-team players leave the club. Here’s what Meslier said about his situation at the club (h/t RMC Sport, via Football.London):
“It’s complicated. Really it’s complicated. When you get out of a situation that is ours, I don’t know if you’ve seen the coach, our club is in the process of being bought out by the San Francisco 49ers.
“Suddenly there are a lot of unknowns. So for the moment, I have my contract until 2026. After that, I will have to think about what is best for me whether that’s at Leeds United or another club.”
Before the drop in performance levels, the Frenchman was in good form for the Yorkshire-based team in the first half of the 2022/23 season. We remember his heroic display at Anfield that helped Leeds beat Liverpool against all odds.
In terms of attributes, Meslier is comfortable on the ball, is a decent shot-stopper and does well as a sweeper. He is still a young keeper (23 years old) who will get better in the coming years.
Chelsea could do with a goalkeeping addition in the summer window. Edouard Mendy is most likely to leave the club while Kepa Arrizabalaga doesn’t cut it when asked to perform on a consistent basis.
If Mauricio Pochettino is convinced that he can bring Meslier and improve on his slight weaknesses, Chelsea should back that call and sign the Frenchman.
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The best part about the Leeds stopper is that he has more good things about his game than bad. So, Pochettino does not have to build a player from scratch.