Leeds United goalkeeper Kristoffer Klaesson could be concerned about his future after some recent news from abroad.
Indeed, teammate Elia Caprile, who is on loan with Serie C outfit Pro Patria, has been earning some pretty high praise in the Italian media of late.
Considering Klaesson hasn’t been able to really challenge first-choice shot-stopper Illan Meslier, he may fear for his position as the backup option if Caprile returns this summer after a successful loan spell.
TIF has decided to take a look at how it could all play out…
What’s been said…
While on loan, Caprile has played 37 times for Pro Patria, keeping 12 clean sheets along the way. Following a fine string of performances, Informazione Online (via MOT Leeds News) has dubbed Caprile’s efforts as a ‘miracle’.
Back with Leeds this season, Jesse Marsch – as well as Marcelo Bielsa before that – have seemed pretty reluctant to give Klaesson much of a chance. Indeed, the 21-year-old has managed just one appearance in the league to date – a 35-minute cameo against Wolves.
Meslier had to come off during that match due to an injury and wasn’t fully fit for their game against Watford soon after. Even so, Marsch still opted to play him over Klaesson, perhaps showing his lack of faith in the backup.
The American said of his thinking before the game: “On Thursday I would have thought Kristoffer Klaesson would have been the ‘keeper today. Illan was fantastic. He’s three weeks later still struggling with that [knock at Wolves]. It was a bit of a miraculous recovery given how he felt two days ago.
“I had a meeting with him and Kristoffer Klaesson today, I said I know goalkeepers like to have rhythm, it’s a sensitive decision but we needed a big performance from whoever and certainly Illan, where he didn’t train, delivered one of his best performances of the season and was incredibly stable.”
Caprile compared
Because Caprile is playing in Serie C, not a lot of data exists online regarding his goalkeeping statistics. But we can still compare him with Klaesson by looking at his experience so far this season.
With both men still being in their early 20s, the more they can play the better. Having spent the season on loan, Caprile has been afforded more of an opportunity to grow. As mentioned before, he has kept 12 clean sheets in 37 games, while he has conceded 44 goals in that period.
Including academy appearances, Klaesson has played 23 times this season – including a Europa Conference League qualifier for Valerenga, where he let in four goals. Across the campaign, he has let in 48 goals and only kept four clean sheets. So it’s fair to say he’s not been quite as effective as Caprile.
Is Kristoffer Klaesson good enough to be Leeds' back up goalkeeper?
Yes
No
TIF Verdict…
With Caprile getting regular minutes at senior level and impressing, he is certainly in a good position to come back to Leeds and really push for a spot in the side.
Klaesson hasn’t really had many opportunities to shine for the first team, and may well be frustrated by this. However, being in and around the club will at least have given Marsch an idea about his quality and so he may have a slight head start over Caprile in the pecking order.
Even so, with his rival impressing in Italy and playing regularly at senior level, Klaesson may have to do a lot to prove himself on the training ground.
Regardless, with both goalkeepers still pretty young, it will be interesting to see how they develop over the coming seasons.
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