Exclusive: Paul Robinson – Leeds have ‘excellent’ signing in the bag as club in advanced talks
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Paul Robinson has said he thinks it’s a “formality” that Leeds will sign goalkeeper Illan Meslier on a permanent deal.
The 20-year-old has stepped up after Kiko Casilla was banned for eight games for racist abuse.
He’s kept two clean sheets and impressed across all three games he’s played, including the FA Cup loss against Arsenal in January.
The Leeds option to make his deal permanent is £5m and the club is said to be in “advanced talks” with his parent club Lorient over triggering the permanent deal.
Talking exclusively to MOT Leeds News Robinson said, “I think with his age and stature that Meslier will grow and become a top goalkeeper at Leeds.
“His distribution is excellent although he’s not shown that in the first two games that he’s played.
“He’s not been tested either but he’s got the clean sheets, which will build his confidence up.
“You look at his clean sheets and his stature and there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t grow into the player that everyone at the club knows he can be.
“If that carries on until the end of the season then I see it being a formality that he signs on a permanent deal and he could be a real bargain.”
We can see Meslier being the club’s number one next season – hopefully in the Premier League.
Casilla’s career must be hanging by a thread, although Leeds haven’t moved away from the line of support it took up to the FA hearing.
However, Meslier is looking like a real bargain signing. £5m would be a snip if he does turn out to be a top goalkeeper – and all the signs so far say that he is as good as people think he is.
That’s looking like a bargain after Monaco had made an offer of €10m for Meslier in the summer of 2018, but saw it turned down. [Yorkshire Evening Post]
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