Good Morning. It's Tuesday 24th June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Meslier expected to fly out to Istanbul later this week Illan Meslier's time at Elland Road appears to be drawing to a close. The 25-year-old goalkeeper is on the verge of signing with Turkish Super Lig giants Fenerbahçe, ending a tenure marked by both impressive saves and costly errors. Recent reports confirm Meslier has given notice on his rental property, owned by former footballer Micah Richards, solidifying transfer rumors. Fenerbahçe lead journalist Ekrem Konur spoke with the Breakfast Debate late last night confirming both sides are locked in talks, though a deal is expected to be done, with Meslier expecting to fly out to Istanbul later this week for a medical. Meslier's form saw him benched by Leeds after a string of mistakes. Allegations of a fractured dressing room atmosphere, further fueled by on-field frustrations from teammates, led to manager Daniel Farke reportedly communicating with the squad via captain Ethan Ampadu. Meslier was subsequently dropped for the final stretch of the season. His departure is expected to open the door for Newcastle's Nick Pope to join Leeds, pending Newcastle's completion of the acquisition of James Trafford. please log in to view this image Leeds could consider Joseph swap deal Over the past two years, Leeds United and Real Betis have developed a strange transfer relationship, with Marc Roca and Diego Llorente joining the Seville based club in what can only be described as cut price deals. More recently Junior Firpo joined the La Liga high flyers on a free transfer upon the expiration of his contract too. The latest chapter in this unfolding narrative involves Mateo Joseph. Real Betis want to bring the young forward back to his native Spain, however, the two clubs currently find themselves at an impasse regarding the transfer fee. Leeds are holding out for a minimum of £8.5 million, while Betis has tabled an offer of £6.9 million. In a twist of fate, Leeds are now keen to sign Betis defender Natan, but have been quoted a hefty price tag of £38.5m. This has led to speculation that a player-plus-cash deal could be on the cards, with Joseph potentially being used as a makeweight in the transfer. Whether Leeds are genuinely interested in signing Natan, especially after completing the Bijol deal, remains to be seen. A comparison of the stats between Natan and Bijol reveals that the two players are evenly matched. This raises questions about the valuation of Natan, with many arguing that he is grossly overpriced; however, the possibility of a player-plus-cash deal could be a possibility. Bijol started his career as a defensive midfielder, and is more than competent in the middle of the park. He's also comfortable with both feet, and has filled in at left-back before. Whilst this could open up a vacancy in defensive, it's highly unlikely, given the kind of money Betis are looking for. Leeds face significant squad deficiencies, with glaring needs in goal, left-back, left-wing, attacking midfield, and up front. In this context, Natan, at the quoted price, represents a luxury the club can ill afford, regardless of his perceived quality from last season. The focus remains on addressing more pressing positional needs. please log in to view this image
Morning all, So Betis get our players on the cheap and then demand an extortionate £38.5m for Natan. Hope we tell the cheeky bastards to do one.
Morning all. Sorry to see the way Mesliers time with us ended. Had a hell of a lot of good games for us but of course some fans will choose to only remember his howlers. Good luck to the lad and hell have a decent career ahead. We just have to find a top class keeper now who's willing to buy into the project. Bijol seems to have a decent cv, looking forward to seeing him in action to see if the hype is justified. I could be wrong but there seems to be three international breaks between September, October and November, that'll be great fun
Let's hope we don't end up nostalgically watching a reel of Meslier highlights whilst we bemoan Pope's (or whoevers) latest blunder.
He had some good games in the PL first season. Bit like bamford… no fans - less pressure? I dont remember ‘a hell of a lot of them’. A few showy saves do not a keeper make. my problem wasn’t the obvious howlers, it was consistent poor positioning and failing to command his area, and letting a disproportionate number of ‘could have saved’ shots in. It genuinely staggers me how people were blind to this for years. He played a huge part in our relegation and failure to get promoted last year and came close to repeating the feat this year. It’s not his fault, that lies with those that didn’t replace him earlier, likely because he was good in training, There’s talent there, I genuinely wish him well and hope a fresh start helps build his confidence and he turns into a world beater. Moving on is the best thing for everyone. But let’s not sugar coat it, he was a disaster here.
There's a whisper that there’s a flight from Southampton to Leeds east arriving this morning with Aaron Ramsdale on board
Morning all Meslier did his best, he didn’t purposely allow those goals in but he was very poor and the blame is with those who picked him. I’m excited he’s on his way out, looking forward to seeing who we bring in, I’m quite happy with the first two, an out of contract International striker and an international defender, the talk was always of strengthening the spine first A couple of money exits to balance the Bijol signing before the new PSR year clicks in. We did get a chunk for Kristensen
Morning all. I’m in agreement with Milky’s summary of Mes, who for me never developed on. His positioning never improved neither his command of the box on corners or crosses, maybe down to the coaching l don’t know, but Darlow was better in that regard. Wish him well but he has to go elsewhere because his teammates lost faith in him.
Meslier was complicit in costing this club 100's of millions of pounds. He must have been amazing in training. He had two outstanding games. His debut at Arsenal and the 2-1 win at Anfield. He cost us boat loads of points. Looks more of a mentality weakness than a lack of talent. Hopefully a new start helps him.
Goodluck to Mes. But its time to go. I think he will be a much better keeper out of England his style is that of a continental keeper wont leave his line on setpieces and prefers to punch than catch. He tried his best just had many lapses of concentration. All the best Barry White.
Difference is, because of his age, some agent was able to find Meslier a club, probably cost us a packet to do so. Bamford however is an immovable object. No team will be daft enough to cover his astronomical wages and health bills.
It's ok Kev, Paddy's game is more suited to the PL, he doesn't have to rough it with the plebs in the championship. He'll be like a new signing
