According to Football Insider, a Leeds source has said: “Bielsa is braced for an extended absence of his first-choice goalkeeper [Kiko Casilla] and is ready to put his faith in 19-year-old [Illan] Meslier.”
However, the French loanee returns to his parent club FC Lorient in June 2020 but there is an option to buy if Marcelo Bielsa deems necessary.
Casilla is set to continue in goal against Blackburn Rovers this weekend, but the outcome of his FA hearing will be known by the time the Championship resumes after the international break.
Meslier is then set for an extended run in the Leeds goal as Bielsa believes he is better equipped to stand in for Casilla.
Meslier has also spoken in the past about his feelings towards Leeds and also explaining that a lack of minutes could mean he’s no longer interested in playing for the side. Here’s what he said when speaking to Oust-France on whether he plans on staying:
“I would like to, but it depends on the season. If I play in the Championship, and the club activates the option to buy, I would stay without a problem. If I play less, we will think about it. But the best thing would be to continue at Leeds.”
So far this season the 19-year-old is yet to play in the Championship for Leeds, which could leave the young man unhappy by the time the loan is over, possibly making contract talks more costly if Bielsa decides to buy him at the end of his loan deal.
However, this could all change if first-choice keeper Kiko Casilla is banned by the FA. The Spanish keeper has played 1350 minutes in the Championship this season, but is currently in a racism case after allegedly abusing Jonathan Leko during a match. The ban is a mandatory minimum of six games if found guilty.
Leeds United put out a statement on 4th November saying:
“Leeds United Football Club acknowledges the charge from the FA today relating to Kiko Casilla and an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 during our Sky Bet Championship match with Charlton Athletic at The Valley in September.
Kiko strenuously denies the allegation and has proactively worked with the FA during their investigation to date.
The next step of this process will be a personal hearing, in the meantime Kiko will remain available for selection.”
TIF Tactics – Can Meslier live up to Casilla?
The 19-year-old can only really be judged on his time in Ligue 2 with Lorient at the moment as there has been no evidence as to whether he will be able to play Championship football at a satisfactory standard.
During the 2018/19 season, Meslier made 28 appearances in the League with two coming in the Coupe de la Ligue, across the Ligue 2 matches he played, the Frenchman kept nine clean sheets and conceded 32 goals.
When comparing that to Kiko Casilla’s 2018/19 season you see the big difference in quality, with the Spaniard playing just 17 games and twice in the playoffs, however, he managed to keep five clean sheets and only conceded 18 goals.
So you can see how much of a miss the Spanish keeper could be, Leeds United fans will be hoping if he is banned that their very young keeper can prove he’s up to the job, otherwise they may see their promotion hopes fade away.