Illan Meslier and the three other Leeds United players set to leave Elland Road in 2026
Leeds United look set to lose multiple members of their promotion-winning squad at the end of the season.
With the number of new signings Leeds have made this summer, competition for positions in Daniel Farke’s team has never been fiercer.
Whilst this uptick in competition has led to legends like Patrick Bamford leaving, other players could be set to follow suit after a season of warming the bench in the Premier League.
Illan Meslier is one of many players whose contract is set to expire at the end of the current campaign, as Leeds look likely to let him and multiple others walk away as free agents.
Illan Meslier and Sam Byram amongst those with expiring contracts
Meslier is one of the players Leeds should sell to help aid with their PSR issues.
With Robbie Evans confirming the club have maxed out their PSR, Leeds look to be running out of time to get the Frenchman off their books before they risk losing him for free next year.
Byram, along with Alex Cairns and Karl Darlow, also have deals that expire in the next 12 months, and it looks unlikely that many of them have a long-term future at Elland Road.
- Meslier has lost his place in the side and is now even behind Darlow in the pecking order
- Darlow is 34, whilst Byram and Cairns are 31 and 32 respectively
- Renewals for all four seem unlikely, as they all rarely feature
If all four players do leave, Leeds need to ensure they are replaced with Darlow and Cairns in particular, providing the necessary depth in the goalkeeping department.
When does the rest of the squad’s contracts expire?
Whilst Farke would likely not lose any sleep if any of the four previously mentioned players left, he would be concerned to lose some of the players whose contracts currently expire in 2027, with the most notable of those players being Ethan Ampadu.
Players whose contracts expire in 2027:
- Ethan Ampadu
- Joel Piroe
- Pascal Struijk
- Brenden Aaronson
- Ilia Gruev
- Lukas Nmecha
Players whose contracts expire in 2028:
- Willy Gnonto
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin
- Jack Harrison
- Joe Rodon
- Ao Tanaka
- Jayden Bogle
- Sam Chambers
Players whose contracts expire in 2029:
- Sean Longstaff
- Dan James
- Anton Stach
- Noah Okafor
- James Justin
- Lucas Perri
- Gabriel Gudmundsson
- Sebastiaan Bornauw
Players whose contracts expire in 2030:
- Jaka Bijol
Whilst Leeds fans will be happy to see their new signings like Bijol and Stach on long-term contracts, they will not be naive enough to think this will be enough to keep players of their calibre if the Whites are relegated.
It does strengthen Leeds’ negotiating position, however and ensures they could collect handsome fees if they were to be sold on.
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