Jesse Marsch names Leeds United 'quarterback' with unique role in welcoming Georginio Rutter

The Frenchman has amassed close to 100 Premier League appearances for the Whites and has not missed a league fixture since the 2020/21 season, illustrating his importance to Leeds during their current stint in the top flight. Under Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch, Meslier has been a mainstay between the posts, with no material challenge to his status as United’s No. 1.

Leeds’ American head coach spoke glowingly about the 22-year-old in a recent press conference, 24 hours after club captain Liam Cooper singled out the former Lorient man as an emerging leader in the dressing room.

"Illan for me has made major progress,” Marsch told reporters. “I've challenged him to be more of a well-rounded goalkeeper that can read the game in all moments, so I sometimes call it the quarterback when he has the ball in his possession and then sometimes almost like a last defender and how he manages those situations.

"And so we've tried to expand his comfort zone from everything from a leadership perspective to last defender perspective to decision making perspective and I think we've seen a lot of growth in that and at the same time seeing his ability to make saves and make big plays to help us manage results.

"So I like Illan a lot. I think his potential is massive, really massive. I mean, I think he’s maybe one of our biggest high potential players and he knows I like him and at the same time he knows that I'm going to challenge them in all ways to continue to try and grow,” Marsch added.

Meslier is likely to play an important role in club-record transfer Georginio Rutter’s adaptation at Elland Road after the Hoffenheim striker sealed a big-money move to Leeds on Saturday night. The pair are from towns separated by less than 30 miles in north-western France and have already discussed Rutter’s move, the centre-forward crediting Meslier with advice prior to his transfer.

The duo have also represented France at Under-21 level together and will no doubt hope they can break into Didier Deschamps’ senior squad through their performances at Elland Road.