Leeds United: Victor Orta should make £25.7m move for Yassine Bounou in January
Illan Meslier has had the gloves at Leeds United for the majority of his time in Yorkshire but Victor Orta can put pressure on the Frenchman.
Kristoffer Klaesson and Joel Robles are not close to challenging the 22-year-old at all and that lack of pressure from within Thorp Arch could soon see Meslier become almost complacent in his performances.
According to Fichajes.net on 21 September, the Whites were in the race to sign Sevilla shot-stopper Yassine Bounou along with Premier League rivals West Ham United.
Since those reports emerged, further details of the 31-year-old’s situation at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium have come to light with Estadio Deportivo reporting that they are willing to accept an offer of £25.7million for the Moroccan international.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have now entered the race as well but Orta needs to try and beat away the competition and bring one of the stars of the World Cup so far to Elland Road.
Not only would he challenge Meslier for a starting spot but he could also become the de facto number one should the highly-rated French Under-21 international be poached by a European heavyweight in the near future.
With West Ham and Villa both on the prowl for his services, Leeds will come to regret it if they do not make any attempt to sign him while the opportunity is in front of them because he can win a game all on his own.
The £25.7million price tag should not discourage Orta either because the net spend in the summer was minimal so the cash should be in the bank to splash on anybody who can improve the side vastly.
Even if Bounou doesn’t start ahead of Meslier, he does that.
In other Leeds United news, Bounou isn’t the only one starring in Qatar with this Whites ace being hailed by a BBC pundit after his latest showing.