Noel Whelan has encouraged his former side Leeds United to secure the future of youngster Bailey Peacock-Farrell as the club reportedly prepare a new deal for the goalkeeper.
The former Elland Road forward believed that it would be a great bit of business from the Yorkshire club as the 22-year-old could push on to be even better under the guidance of senior stopper Kiko Casilla, having fallen down the pecking order behind the Spaniard.
Speaking to Football Insider, who report that a new deal is in the offing for the shot stopper, Whelan said: “Bailey is a good goalkeeper, an international for Northern Ireland, and Leeds need to keep him, it would be madness to let him go.
“It makes no sense for Leeds to let go of their best young players. Getting Bailey tied down nice and early to a new deal would be a brilliant piece of business.”
The Northern Ireland international was a mainstay under Marcelo Bielsa in the first half of the season making 28 appearances and keeping 10 clean sheets in the process.
Peacock-Farrell was moved to a back up with the arrival of Champions League winner Kiko Casilla in January.
OPINION
Despite a shaky couple of months where mistakes were quite frequent for the youngster, he has improved dramatically. After being sent back to the club from a non-league loan spell at York City not so long ago, the improvement in his game has been excellent. He started the season with great confidence keeping out Chelsea loanee Jamal Blackman who eventually suffered a season ending injury. Whelan is certainly right with claim, keeping Peacock-Farrell would be the right move for everyone involved. Even as a second-string goalkeeper to have on the bench, at 22-years-old he offers a lot more than keepers at a similar age with consistent international experience available to him. The ability to be able to pick the brains of an experienced stopper above him, the starlet will only improve and become a better keeper with more confidence in the years to come – which will only benefit Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United.