Leeds United’s squad once again looks like it will undergo a drastic change this summer.
The Whites have finally secured a deal for Harry Wilson. United are also pushing to sign Southampton midfielder Shea Charles.
There have also been a couple of outgoings. The most notable being Pascal Struijk, who joined Brighton for a reported £20million.
However, another long-serving member of Leeds’ squad has also left this summer. But his latest move looks as though it could kill his career.
Illan Meslier joining Arsenal as a free agent per Fabrizio Romano
After not featuring at all for Leeds last season, it was no surprise to see Illan Meslier walk away as a free agent when his contract expired with the club.
What was surprising, however, was that rumours began to circulate claiming Arsenal were interested in signing Meslier.
It turns out, for some strange reason, that these rumours are true. In a post on his X account, Fabrizio Romano confirmed that a deal has been completed between Meslier and Arsenal, with the contract being signed after he completed his medical on Tuesday.
Now, it goes without saying that Meslier will not play at Arsenal. So essentially, the 26-year-old has resigned himself to not playing often at all as he approaches the prime years of his career.
Whilst there will obviously be a financial benefit from his move to Arsenal, it ultimately proves that Meslier has no intention of trying to get back to his best and playing regularly.
49ers severely mismanaged the Illan Meslier situation
For me, I’d have sold Meslier coming off the back of our relegation from the Premier League in 2023. The Frenchman ended the season atrouciously and was dropped by Sam Allardyce in favour of Joel Robles.
However, I can understand that during a summer that included plenty of departures already, we kept Meslier around.
But after he was poor again under Daniel Farke upon our return to the Championship, that is when we definitely should have sold him.
Instead, we persisted with him. During our promotion-winning campaign, he lost his place in the team again during the backend of the season, this time to Karl Darlow.
So, after three horrendous seasons, we were understandably unable to sell Meslier. Allowing the Frenchman to stick around for the final year of his deal before leaving on a free.
But considering how high Meslier’s stock was at one stage, the fact he is leaving for free is shocking.
The 49ers missed multiple chances to get rid of him when they easily could’ve done so, and now it is a decision that has cost them financially.
As for Meslier, I think his move to Arsenal proved he got rather comfortable not playing at Leeds last year. It looks as though he’s happy to throw away his chances of playing to warm another bench.
But from an Arsenal perspective, the move is baffling.
Like it or not, they’re one of the best teams in Europe. But they’re just one injury crisis away from now having to play a goalkeeper in Meslier who is not even Premier League calibre anymore.
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