Leeds United fans are desperate for new signings.
The only senior addition made by Victor Orta this summer was bringing in Junior Firpo from Barcelona, and a permanent deal for Jack Harrison, but he has been in West Yorkshire as long as Marcelo Bielsa, so really, Firpo is the only real addition.
That being said, Orta has been busy in recent days and it was reported this morning that Illan Meslier, like Bielsa did a day earlier, had signed a new contract to the club.
And although it isn’t a new signing per se, it’s certainly as significant as one.
Worth a fortune
Meslier kept eight Premier League clean sheets before his 21st birthday in a fact which reinforces the idea that this is a player with enormous potential.
Another solid season in England’s top flight and Orta is going to have to beat other clubs’ sporting directors away with a stick next summer.
But Leeds fans can rest easy in the knowledge that if they do move on the French goalkeeper, it’ll be for a staggering amount.
Still only 21 and now contracted until 2026, Meslier’s extension puts Leeds in a such a powerful position to demand a monumental figure for their young stopper.
Expensive goalkeepers
Goalkeepers have been going for a premium amount in recent years, with Liverpool dropping £66 million on Alisson, and Chelsea spending £71 million on Kepa Arrizabalaga. Meslier has a ways to go before he’s at Alisson’s level, but the Brazilian hadn’t even arrived in European football when he was the Leeds player’s age.
You could argue that Meslier is far more advanced than the 28-year-old was at the same period in both of their careers and if that’s the case, which it is, there’s just no telling what sort of money the Elland Road club could fetch for him.
Orta won’t get much credit for this extension, because he isn’t a new signing, but it’s a brilliant and very smart piece of business all the same.
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