Leeds United have retained some players who they may have been open to selling, and others that are seen as crucial long-term at Elland Road.
Leeds United may have signed 10 players but almost none of the crucial players of last season were let go of in the recent summer transfer window.
Junior Firpo, Manor Solomon, Joe Rothwell, and Largie Ramazani all had roles to play, as did Patrick Bamford. However, Leeds were willing to let them go and to look for quality additions elsewhere.
However, some players were also likely to leave and didn’t. For example, Leeds were open to selling Illan Meslier this summer and Meslier was stripped of his Leeds shirt number to hand it to Lucas Perri for the start of the season.
He remains despite interest and in spite of Leeds offering Meslier out to other clubs for around £5-6 million in Europe late on in the window as well.
Illan Meslier has free transfer interest from Inter Milan
The 25-year-old Frenchman joined the club over six years ago, but there are now fewer than 10 months on his contract at Elland Road.
It’s why Graham Smyth expected Meslier to be sold by Leeds and is surprised he remained past the deadline with 12 others leaving Leeds in the summer window instead.
There were clubs in the mix, with both PSG and Como considering Meslier as a back-up goalkeeper, amid reports that Lorient were keen to re-sign Meslier after selling to Leeds in 2020.
Valencia and Rangers had late interest in Meslier. Nothing came of it, but Smyth’s deadline day reveal outlined that Lorient and Valencia looked the most likely. None materialised and most other transfer deadlines remaining open to Meslier have now closed.
Meslier is the third-choice Leeds goalkeeper but other interest has emerged. Calciomercato have revealed that Serie A giants Inter Milan have identified him as one of the options to replace Yann Sommer long-term.
They state that the Champions League side wishes to focus on a goalkeeper who will be available for free in June. However, there are other options being considered as well.
The report reads: “Rather than Stefan Ortega, given his age (almost 33) and the salary of the Manchester City goalkeeper, 25-year-old Frenchman Illan Meslier of Leeds is considered.
“27-year-old Dutchman Justin Bijlow of Feyenoord is considered. The last possibility is a return to Appiano Gentile. This involves the young Filip Stankovic.”
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Jamie Carragher’s view of Illan Meslier
Daniel Farke appears to favour Karl Darlow over Meslier. However, others, such as Stuart Dallas, have backed Meslier publicly. Then you have Jamie Carragher who has never been convinced by Meslier
Back in 2023, Leeds were thumped 6-1 by Liverpool. Meslier was in goal that game and Carragher gave a post-match review of the Frenchman, which was pretty brutal..
Carragher said: “I’ve never been convinced with the goalkeeper – I know he’s a young player, Bielsa brought him up from the Championship and he was young then, maybe 20. He was good on the ball using his feet but he’s got no presence. It looks like you’ve got a kid in goal.
“I’ve always felt that. Okay, he’s a young goalkeeper making his way, but I’ve never felt convinced with him at all, and the defenders that they’ve got individually are really poor. Really poor, they make big mistakes every time they play.”
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