‘One of the steals of the decade; Get him signed’: These Leeds fans react to £5m transfer report

French publication Ouest-France made an interesting claim about young Leeds United loanee Illan Meslier on Thursday.

They said that the £5m Leeds option to make Meslier’s deal permanent would be triggered if he made 10 first-team appearances or if Leeds get promoted.

The claim was picked up by TeamTalk editor James Marshment and it’s a particularly timely one.

We’re expecting to hear the outcome of Casilla’s FA hearing sometime today and it could lead to an extended ban for the keeper.

That would see Meslier step up and take the gloves, and it would see him start to rack up more first-team appearances after making his debut in the FA Cup game against Arsenal.

Casilla would get a minimum six-game ban and possibly more if found guilty. And knowing Bielsa, if Meslier plays brilliantly, it’s unlikely he’d be dropped – unless Leeds don’t want to trigger the option.

Many Leeds fans reacted to the news about Meslier positively. Plenty of supporters have been calling for him to play ahead of Casilla a string of errors have cost Leeds points in recent weeks.

At that price, we’d expect Leeds to take up the option if they’re promoted. However, if Leeds miss out it’s questionable whether they’d want to make another significant signing on the back of an obligation to sign Helder Costa.

Some fans think this explains why Casilla hasn’t been dropped but we don’t think Bielsa would make any team decisions based on this – and we don’t think the Leeds board would make a demand like that of Bielsa.

Here are the best reactions to the Meslier news…

In other Leeds United news, ‘Bye bye takeover’ – These Leeds fans react to update on QSI chairman from Guardian journalist