Ilan Meslier was back in action for Leeds United's under‑21s after being frozen out of the first team picture at Elland Road
Bruna Reis
04:00, 01 Mar 2026
Ilan Meslier
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Ilan Meslier was in action for Leeds' U21s team(Image: Getty Images)
Illan Meslier's appearance for Leeds United's under‑21s against West Ham on Saturday could be read as a reminder to Daniel Farke that he is still fighting for relevance at Elland Road in the final months of his contract. The French goalkeeper has not featured in a Leeds squad since the start of December.
Meslier, who played a major role in Leeds' Championship‑winning campaign in 2024/25, has endured a turbulent return to the Premier League. A series of high‑profile mistakes last season opened the door for Lucas Perri, signed from Lyon for £15.6million, to take over as Farke's first‑choice goalkeeper.
Since Perri's arrival, Meslier has not featured once for the senior side and has slipped significantly down the pecking order. Perri has been the established No.1 in the league, while Karl Darlow has been preferred for cup fixtures, leaving Meslier confined to reserve‑team football.
His latest appearance came for the under‑21s, where he produced an outstanding save to deny Joshua Ajala from the penalty spot, though the young Whites ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat. The performance may not change his immediate situation, but it does underline that the 25‑year‑old is still pushing to be noticed.
Taking to X to describe the moment, Leeds' academy account wrote: "Penalty saved! Ajala strikes it towards the bottom-left corner, but Meslier is able to deny the West Ham forward. 0–0."
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Meslier has essentially been frozen out of Farke's squad, having not even made the Whites' bench since their 3–2 defeat away at Manchester City in November and played for the under-21s against the Blues earlier this month.
"All the players in the squad are part of my plans and all the attention of myself is to each and every player - even if a player is at the moment not that much involved, or just on the bench, or sometimes also not in the squad," Farke previously explained when asked about Meslier's absence from the squad.
"In this case with Illan, I've made my feelings clear about him. I rate him that much. I think he's a goalkeeper full of potential, unbelievably young for a goalkeeper.
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"Especially at this young age to have so many games at Championship and at Premier League level is very remarkable, and it's also, with Illan, a joy to work with him each and every day.
"At the moment, we have needed all our goalkeepers so far - in the matchday squad we had injuries, we had illnesses, and for that it's not the plan to do anything.
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"I'm happy to have them all, and that we have really good options and we are then there with many good goalkeepers in our squad."
With his contract expiring this summer, it feels as though Meslier's Elland Road chapter has been over for some time.
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