Now is the time for Leeds United to offload 2019 Marcelo Bielsa signing: View | OneFootball

Illan Meslier needs to be moved on while his stock is still high

Highlights

Daniel Farke will be inevitably resigned to losing some of his key players in the transfer window as Leeds United prepare for a second consecutive season in the Championship.

The Whites came close to promotion in 2023/24, but lost 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final in May and now face a battle this summer to keep hold of some of their most important players.

Stars like Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter and Archie Gray are undoubtedly bound to attract attention as Leeds look to balance the books, whereas goalkeeper Illan Meslier may not have the same long list of suitors, but should be sold while his stock is still high with Leeds reportedly needing to stump up £100m in player sales.

The Frenchman would still fetch profit for the Whites, despite his inconsistent performances, and it feels like the right time for both club and player to cut ties and move on after a tough few years.

Meslier has been a mainstay for Leeds

The former France U21 international was only 19 when he signed for the Whites on loan from Lorient under Marcelo Bielsa in 2019, and initially played second-fiddle to Kiko Casilla before he broke into the starting eleven at the end of his first season as they won the Championship title at a canter.

He then joined the club permanently in the summer of 2020 on a three-year contract for a reported £5m fee, and had an impressive season as Bielsa's first choice 'keeper in the Premier League, as he became the first goalkeeper under the age of 21 to record 11 clean sheets in a single Premier League season and won the club's Young Player of the Year award.

Meslier was an ever-present in a less impressive 2021/22 season where Leeds survived relegation by just three points, but signed a new deal in August 2021 to keep him tied down to the club until 2026.

Both Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia kept him as their number one in 2022/23, but after he conceded 23 goals in seven games in April, he was dropped by new boss Sam Allardyce for the final four games of the season as Leeds were relegated to the Championship in 19th place.

Farke's arrival last summer saw Meslier back in the starting fold on his return to the second-tier - he kept the joint-most league clean sheets, with 18 in 44 games, but was 19th out of 30 Championship goalkeepers for save percentage according to fbref, in what was a slightly more successful, but not brilliant season on a personal level.

An exit makes sense for all parties

Despite some inconsistencies in his performances, Meslier has been Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for the best part of five years now - he is clearly a talented player but has been put in some tough situations with a lot of pressure on his young shoulders.

The 24-year-old has all the room to grow into a top-level goalkeeper in the future, but another unsuccessful year in the second-tier, which seems likely if Leeds lose their star quality, and his value could easily decrease to a fee that only represents a small profit from the £5m paid for him in 2019, especially as he approaches the last two years of his existing contract.

The Daily Mail has previously reported that Leeds need to raise £100m in player sales after not achieving promotion, and the sale of the Frenchman for anything close to his Transfermarkt value of €18m would certainly contribute to helping put them in line with the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.

Leeds have ready-made replacements in Karl Darlow and Kristoffer Klaesson, with both likely able to step up as first-choice if Meslier does leave, and were reportedly tracking Swedish international 'keeper Viktor Johansson before his move to Stoke City, in what may be a sign that they are keeping a look-out for a new keeper in case Meslier does leave.

Now seems like the best time for him to leave - he needs a fresh start, would command a good fee for Leeds and would leave the club with best wishes from their fans after being a key part of an important spell in the club's history.