Leeds United surprise issued at Illan Meslier development

Prior to Leeds United’s 2024–2025 season beginning, Daniel Farke has named Ethan Ampadu the club captain, with Pascal Struijk and Illan Meslier serving as vice captains.

The Welshman has established himself as a major leadership role in the Elland Road locker room after donning the armband 23 times in 2023–2024.

This record is better than Struijk’s thirteen, Liam Cooper’s official club captaincy (eleven), and Luke Ayling’s official vice-captaincy (eight) for the first half of the season.

Meslier’s inclusion was unexpected, though, considering some of the other experienced players Leeds had on their roster. This includes players who have played for Leeds for a long time, such as Patrick Bamford and Sam Byram.

Despite the fact that Meslier shared the Golden Glove award with him last season because to his string of clean sheets in 2024, games played at the end of the season brought attention to his problems, which Daniel Farke and his club may find concerning.

Last summer, there were a lot of rumors and conjecture around Leeds’ goalkeeper; yet, the Frenchman stuck at Elland Road because of his good reputation in the Premier League. Meslier was a player that reports said the Whites would sell, and it was anticipated that he would leave Leeds during the summer.

Nothing happened in the previous year. Leeds will still be aware, though, that Meslier is a player they can easily profit from because Victor Orta paid almost £5 million to sign the Frenchman in the summer of 2020 in order to acquire him from Lorient.

Despite this, the Daily Mail claims that the Whites are asking for more than £20 million in compensation for the 24-year-old’s services. According to Santi Aouna, a French journalist, Marseille and Roberto De Zerbi were eager to return Meslier to his native country.

The latest news from L’Equipe (via Sport Witness) is that Marseille has moved on from Meslier, in part because they don’t think they will be able to reach a suitable agreement with Leeds. However, the goalkeeper’s current salary demands may prove too much for the Ligue 1 side to afford.

However, the latest development surrounding the vice-captaincy has perhaps signified the club’s intent is to retain Meslier’s services.