Kiko Casilla’s Leeds future may be in doubt atfer being axed vs West Ham
Marcelo Bielsa dropped Kiko Casilla from the matchday squad against West Ham and that suggests his Leeds United future could be in doubt.
Young goalkeeper Elia Caprile took the Spaniard’s place on the substitutes bench for just the fifth time this season.
And after the match, Marcelo Bielsa, via Adam Pope, that the switch was not due to an injury to Casilla.
That is an interesting development, and it is possible that Bielsa will look to bed Caprile into the squad over the remaining few games this season.
Casilla, after all, has not made an appearance since the January loss to Brighton.
That is the only league game he has played this season, with Illan Meslier owning the number one jersey.
Caprile has had to wait patiently for his call-up to the first-team and has instead featured heavily for the under 23s.
Casilla has played four games for the U23s, but he is now 34-years-old and his long-term future at Elland Road looks in doubt.
The goalkeeper has another two years remaining on his contract but Leeds could look to offload his £32,000-a-week [Spotrac] wages as that money can be better used elsewhere.
It is possible the Whites hierarchy have felt that way for some time.
Last summer journalist David Anderson reported that Leeds were open to offers for Casilla.
That showed he was no longer needed by Bielsa, and since then he has barely played.
He did feature against Crawley in January as well as that Brighton game, but he had a shocker in the 3-0 defeat.
A season without playing may lead Casilla to push for a move as he may only have a few years remaining in his career – if he’s lucky.
That could open the door for Caprile or another goalkeeper, with Tom Heaton one stopper tipped to join in recent weeks.
In other Leeds United news, Chris Sutton has slammed a key Whites star for his performance in Monday’s loss to West Ham.