Rather quiet throughout the season, Illan Meslier has been doing the rounds of the French newspapers since Leeds United were promoted back to the Premier League.
Loaned from Lorient for the season to provide backup for Kiko Casilla, the 20-year-old ended the season as the starter under Marcelo Bielsa following the Spaniard’s eight-match ban.
He impressed, and with promotion now sorted, he committed to a permanent move to Elland Road, where he will stay for the next three years at the very least.
Signing his contract on Thursday, Meslier spoke to L’Equipe on Friday, where he talked about his decision to stay.
He said: “From the very beginning, I felt really good in the club and the town. I didn’t have to think much, I’m going to discover the Premier League! Now, I’ll need to have a good preseason so that I can give myself all the means to make the choice of the future starter as difficult as possible for the manager”.
Leeds United decided to pay €6.5m (not counting bonuses) for the French goalkeeper, meaning there might be some pressure for him to perform down the line.
For now, however, he’s simply going to enjoy the club’s success, relax and then come back to hopefully show that sum was actually a bargain.
