Leeds United lost a number of their key players after the team failed to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season.
The Whites lost 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley in May, after finishing third in the division, and are now in their second campaign in the Championship.
Daniel Farke had to watch on as Archie Gray, Georgino Rutter, Crysencio Summerville, and Glen Kamara all moved on from Elland Road on permanent deals.
It was reported that Gray and Rutter both had £40m release clauses, which were activated by Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton, and it was recently claimed that a current Leeds player wants to copy them.
Illan Meslier’s contract situation
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT last week, journalist Ben Jacobs revealed that Illan Meslier would like to have a release clause in his contract in West Yorkshire.
The report claimed that the left-footed shot-stopper would like to protect himself in the event that Leeds fail to earn promotion again, with a clause that would allow him to join a top-flight side.
Meslier is currently contracted through to the summer of 2026 and this means that, if the Whites opt against cashing in on him, the Frenchman could remain in the second tier for another two seasons, barring a promotion.
Jacobs, however, added that the 49ers are looking to remove such clauses from current contracts and are reluctant to insert them into future deals, which suggests that the French goalkeeper may not get his wish in negotiations over fresh terms.
49ers must finally ditch Illan Meslier
With this recent news in mind, the 49ers and Leeds must finally cash in on the dud because he is seemingly already thinking about moving on from the club if they fail to win promotion.
After watching so many key players move on due to release clauses this summer, the Whites cannot allow their assets to control their own future and potentially leave the team shorthanded when teams come in to activate the clause.
Therefore, the 49ers should brutally ditch Meslier and bring in a goalkeeper who is committed to the long-term cause under Farke, whether that is in January or next summer.
23/24 Championship | Illan Meslier |
|---|---|
Appearances | 44 |
Save success rate | 68% |
Goals prevented | -4.49 |
Error led to shot | 1 |
Error led to goal | 1 |
Red cards | 1 |
As you can see in the table above, the 24-year-old dud significantly underperformed as a shot-stopper by conceding 4.49 more than expected based on the xG of the efforts on his goal, whilst he also made two direct errors that led to a shot or a goal.
Meslier kept 18 clean sheets in the Championship last season, sharing the Golden Glove with West Brom’s Alex Palmer, but these statistics suggest that the Leeds defence deserved that accolade more than the Frenchman.
The Whites liability also let in a staggering 28.6 more goals than expected based on the post-shot xG against him across the 2021/22 and 2022/23 Premier League seasons.
These statistics do not suggest that Meslier’s performances have been good enough in recent years to warrant wanting a release clause for a bigger move, which is another reason why the 49ers should look to ditch him and sign a better, and more committed, goalkeeper.
