With the January window quickly approaching, there is still some confusion about what will happen at Leeds United. A few weeks ago, Daniel Farke refused to answer questions about potential transfer plans.
Leeds are in great form, and are currently unbeaten in four league games – one of the longest active streaks in the campaign so far. Wins over Crystal Palace and Chelsea have sparked belief in this squad that they can secure survival.
| Club | Games Unbeaten |
|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 7 |
| Manchester City | 5 |
| Liverpool | 5 |
| Leeds United | 4 |
But they will need the 49ers to step in when the window opens, as reinforcements are desperately needed in some areas.
Daniel Farke hints at Illan Meslier Leeds United exit
Ahead of the Sunderland game, Farke fielded some questions about the January window. In the press conference, he discussed Illan Meslier and his future at Elland Road:
“All the players in the squad are apart of my plans and all the attention of myself is to each and every player, even if a player is at the moment not that much involved or just on the bench or sometimes not in the squad like in this case Illan.
I’ve made my feelings clear about him, I rate him that much, I think he’s a goalkeeper full of potential… at this young age to have so many games in the Championship and Premier League is very remarkable… At the moment we needed all of our goalkeepers so far in the matchday squad.
We had injuries, we had illnesses and for that it’s not the plan to do anything of course it can change in January if someone wants to leave but from my side there is no proactive wish to change anything,”
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Club should have made the right decision in the summer
Meslier was available in the summer, and according to club chiefs they did receive offers for him. But according to them, the offers were not ‘good enough’ so the keeper had to stay in the team this season. And in the January window, he will be free to talk to foreign clubs to join them on a free in the summer.
| Season | Games | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 11 | 7 |
| 2020/21 | 35 | 11 |
| 2021/22 | 42 | 7 |
| 2022/23 | 38 | 5 |
| 2023/24 | 50 | 20 |
| 2024/25 | 39 | 21 |
It would be such a wasted opportunity to lose a keeper of this value for free. Regardless of his mistakes taking him out of the team last year, he could have commanded a decent fee. Reports indicate that clubs like AC Milan and Inter Milan see him as a viable option to become their next long-term number one. Why the club would let such a player go for cheap is just an inexcusable mistake.
