TEAMtalk editor James Marshment has been left disappointed that Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier hasn’t been called up to the France squad in spite of an injury to national team captain Hugo Lloris.
The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper has had to withdraw from the Les Blues squad, following a thigh injury.
Meslier has never made a senior appearance for the French national team, though the 22-year-old does have nine U21 caps to his name.
The young goalkeeper has impressed in the top flight for the Whites over the past two years, and earned himself an average SofaScore rating of 6.87 for his Premier League performances last season, ranking him as the sixth-best player in the Leeds squad.
But despite the Lorient-born keepers’ impressive form over his time in the Premier League, a call up to the France squad has not been forthcoming.
And Marshment has expressed his disappointment at Meslier’s omission from the national squad.
“With Hugo Lloris injured and withdrawing from the France squad, it’s disappointing to see Illan Meslier missing out on a first senior call-up,” Marshment tweeted.
“Instead, Didier Deschamps has opted for Alban Lafont of Nantes alongside Mike Maignan and Alphonse Areola.”
TIF Thoughts on Marshment’s comments
Whilst we understand the frustration of Leeds fans that their goalkeeper is not getting recognised on an international level, we believe that it isn’t the end of the world that Meslier hasn’t been called up by Deschamps at the time of writing.
Due to the experience of both Maignan and Areola, we feel that even if the Whites stopper had been called up to the France squad, he would have simply been there to make up the numbers.
We believe that Meslier’s time with the France squad will come, but for now he needs to focus on performing to a consistent level for Jesse Marsch’s side.