Leeds United's reported Illan Meslier January transfer stance amid Hull City nightmare

Leeds United could be set for a change between the posts this month with reports suggesting they would be ‘open to selling’ under fire goalkeeper Illan Meslier.

The 24-year-old endured another torrid 90 minutes on Saturday as Leeds threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Hull City. Daniel Farke’s side were 3-1 up as the clock ticked beyond 80 minutes thanks to second-half goals from Ao Tanaka, Dan James and Joel Piroe but two sloppy moments allowed the hosts to fight back.

Meslier did himself no favours during Hull’s opener but their second was inexplicable, with the Leeds goalkeeper fumbling a harmless looping header at the feet of Joao Pedro. And the French youth international then failed to adequately claim a corner, with Abu Kamara firing home a late leveller for his second of the game.

Leeds’ Meslier stance

Pressure on Meslier has now reached boiling point after another error-strewn game, with calls for Farke to drop his first-choice goalkeeper and clamour for a new addition in the January market. Leeds have regularly maintained they are expecting a quiet month, both in terms of ins and outs, but the Daily Mail claim that stance could change.

The report claims Leeds would be ‘open to selling in January if a decent offer came in’, although there is no detail on what that decent offer might look like. A number of clubs have been linked with interest in Meslier over the past few months, including Manchester United who still like the Frenchman and are looking to find competition for first-choice Andre Onana.

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A return to France has also been touted as a possibility for Meslier, who joined Leeds from FC Lorient in 2019. Reports from the goalkeeper’s homeland last summer suggested there is interest from Olympique de Marseille, although they did end up signing experienced Gerónimo Rulli in August, with the 32-year-old ever-present since.

Farke on Meslier

Meslier will likely be dropped for Leeds’ upcoming game, although that is due to it being an FA Cup third round clash against League Two Harrogate Town. The bigger question is whether Saturday’s likely starter, Karl Darlow, will stay between the posts against Sheffield Wednesday eight days later.

Farke has stuck by his first-choice goalkeeper through a raft of high-profile errors, particularly this season where those mishaps have not been countered by many standout performances. And while the Leeds boss refused to single Meslier out on Saturday, he admitted no one’s place in the starting line-up is guaranteed.

“I would be a poor leader if straight away I punished individual mistakes here in public or in a press conference,” the Whites boss said following Saturday’s draw. “Yes of course [it’s different making changes between the sticks] because it's not like after one or two mistakes you change. If a winger is poor you substitute. There are a few positions when you don't change that quickly like you would for a winger or full-back. A goalkeeper or perhaps centre-back, these are different.

“[But] there is no rule that a player is not dropped. If my captain doesn't deliver, or a centre-back, a goalkeeper, a striker, it's not like if you score own goal after own goal and I say no he's an MVP he stays in the team. I don't like to do finger pointing or speak about individual performances. The players know themselves they should have done better and right now I don't like to speak about team selection. We all take lots of praise, salary, whatever, you can't just take the positives, you have to handle when there's criticism, you're judged by performances. No one can take this away.”