Conor McGilligan fears for Illan Meslier’s fitness after he was ruled out of Leeds United’s friendly against Elche with glandular fever.
Jesse Marsch revealed in the build-up to the Elche friendly that Meslier was out with glandular fever and the club are “trying to be safe with him, but also measure him appropriately and see.”
There is now the concern that if the 22-year-old doesn’t properly recover his Premier League return could be delayed, with the Whites set to restart league action against champions Manchester City at the end of the month.
The illness mostly affects teenagers and young adults and is usually expected to get better in a couple of weeks but could potentially last months depending on how severe the bout is.
It’s an illness that concerns McGilligan who revealed on his YouTube channel affected his brother and knows how bad it can get.
(4:28) “My brothers been through this very recently, and it’s horrendous.”
“There are knock-on effects, it can turn into chronic fatigue.`’
“It’s not good, it’s not good at all, so I’m hoping that Illan Meslier is on the side of it where it is a little bit meek and a little bit meek and a little bit mild,” McGilligan said.
TIF Thoughts on McGilligan’s comments…
There will be concern over Meslier with him consistently impressing at Elland Road after cementing his number one spot in the Championship winning campaign, he’s gone on to make 87 top-flight appearances in two and a half years and has been an ever-present in the league this season.
Marsch’s alternative is Joel Robles who started the friendly win against Elche, he’s only featured once for the Whites’ first team which was a 1-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup.
The 32-year-old hasn’t played a top-flight league game since March 2021 for Real Betis and last played a Premier League game for Everton in 2017, if the Frenchman’s problem is a serious one it’ll surely force Marsch’s hand in the transfer window for a position he previously wouldn’t have considered.