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Leeds United should move for Ben Foster immediately after Kiko Casilla released
After months of speculation, Leeds finally announced on Sunday that they had released veteran goalkeeper Kiko Casilla from his contract a year early.
The Spaniard was brought to the club by Marcelo Bielsa but lost his number one spot to Illan Meslier and spent last season out on loan with La Liga outfit Elche.
But as one departs, the Whites now must find a new goalkeeper of a sufficient level to be able to push Meslier to reach his full potential and the obvious candidate is Ben Foster.
The former Manchester United, West Brom, Birmingham and Watford ace is now a free agent after his contract at Vicarage Road expired last month, as he failed to help the Hornets stay in the Premier League.
But his form was good throughout the season and he is known to be vocal and a leader, something that the Leeds squad can always do with in their dressing room. The club are said to be considering offering him a one-year deal [TeamTalk].
Further to that though, is the fact that Foster has spoken openly about wanting to be first-choice at a Premier League club and being willing to fight for his shirt.
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He’s also spoken about how he would be willing to push his colleagues to a higher level to ensure that the best goalkeeper is the one who is being picked between the sticks every week.
That sounds like the perfect recipe at Elland Road in reality for Meslier, who has developed year on year since joining the club from Lorient back in 2019.
His distribution is one of his strongest attributes, with great kicks and passing range but his reflexes are exceptional and he is confident in claiming crosses when necessary too. He can be a bit quiet and lightweight though, and that’s something Foster can help him with.
As a free transfer Foster would offer a lot more upside to this Leeds squad than downside and it’s a deal that can be done very quickly for Jesse Marsch to improve his squad.
He would bring in cover for a key position as well as competition and quality, while not eating away at the club’s budget for other priority areas such as striker.
It’s a deal that works for everyone and with the Premier League season set to begin next weekend, the sooner the better.
In other Leeds news, Jesse Marsch has made this youth team starlet part of his first-team plans