If the transfer window shut tomorrow, Leeds United can be happy with their business.
Victor Orta has signed Rodrigo for a club-record £30 million and dropped another £32 million on bringing centre-back duo Robin Koch and Diego Llorente to Elland Road.
But going by Sunday’s performance, Leeds’ biggest bargain of the window might actually be goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
United signed the 20-year-old on a permanent basis after he impressed on loan from Lorient last term.
This is a frightening talent and Robbie Savage hailed his ‘world class‘ performance in yesterday’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United, producing a number of superb stops to save Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
And incredibly, this is a player Leeds paid only £5 million for [Ouest France].
If the likes of Rodrigo, Koch and Llorente play big roles in keeping the Whites in the Premier League then they’ll have repaid their transfer fees, but these aren’t players that they’ll be making big money on.
Rodrigo and Llorente, at 29 and 27 respectively, are already in their prime and Koch has a long way to go before he’s considered an elite Premier League defender.
Meslier, on the other hand, is only 20 and with goalkeepers peaking later in their careers than, say, centre-forwards, he could be worth an absolute fortune in a few years.
One good performance away to Sheffield United hardly means that Leeds have the next Manuel Neuer on their hands, but there is always a big market for young and promising goalkeepers, evident by the fact Chelsea spent some £70 million on a 23-year-old Kepa a couple of years ago.
The truth is that if Meslier has an excellent first season in the Premier League then there’s already going to be rumours flying around next summer, linking him with some massive clubs.
The window closes next Monday but, even if it was open for another six months, would Leeds find a bigger bargain than the £5 million they spent on Meslier?
On a footballing and financial level, it’s just a ridiculously good piece of business.
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