Leeds United fans might be frustrated at the club’s window, but no one will be more frustrated at a lack of activity than Illan Meslier, who now faces rotting on the sidelines for the next few months.
A series of disastrous errors for Leeds finally saw Meslier dropped from Daniel Farke’s starting XI last season. Karl Darlow came in, and that 2-2 draw against Swansea remains to be Meslier’s last outing.
Going into the new season, Leeds have signed Lucas Perri. The giant Brazilian is unquestionably Leeds’ no.1, while Darlow is back-up. Solid competition, judging by Darlow’s display for Wales in Kazakhstan.
Meslier has had his no.1 shirt removed for Perri and has not been included in any of the four squads so far, even the Carabao Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday. Everyone expected Meslier to depart.
Andre Onana concedes against West Ham.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Andre Onana move prevents Illan Meslier from late Leeds exit
But Meslier failed to secure a move away from Leeds before the deadline. That is despite Valencia and Lorient holding talks to land Meslier on deadline day. Nothing, ultimately, came to fruition for Meslier.
Now, transfer expert Graeme Bailey has told LeedsUnited.News that following the window, Trabzonspor emerged as an option for Meslier with the Turkish SuperLig window remaining open until Friday the 12th.
But Trabzonspor has signed Manchester United flop Andre Onana, ending any hope of Meslier joining Trabzonspor. Bailey said: “A lot of goalkeepers were on the market after the Premier League window shut.
“Trabzonspor was an option for him [before they signed Andre Onana]. It’s one of those where he’ll end up staying until January. It’s one of those situations where it could have been handled better by Leeds.”
Illan Meslier playing for Leeds United.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
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Will Illan Meslier stay at Leeds, or could he join Patrick Bamford?
Leeds and Patrick Bamford mutually agreed to terminate his deal a year before it expired. Having spent seven years on the books at Leeds, it made sense to remove his enormous wages from the list at Leeds.
Bamford is now 32 and his resale value was tiny. For Meslier, things are different. Still only 25, any fee that Leeds receive is pure profit in the eyes of PSR, having signed for Leeds five years ago, for a fee of £5m.
Bailey expects Meslier to remain: “I don’t think they’re going to buy his contract out. He’s not a bad egg from what I’m told, he isn’t a troublemaker. They won’t cancel his contract, there’s still some value there.”
For now, Meslier looks set to remain on the sidelines at Leeds until the winter window. It would come as no surprise to see Meslier join Jonny Howson in playing for the 21s over the course of the next few weeks.