Illan Meslier has been a member of Leeds United for four and a half years; he initially joined the club on loan from Lorient, a French club, and has since made over 150 appearances for the team. In his first season, Meslier helped the team win promotion back to the Premier League, and he has since played 108 games in the top flight. The Frenchman is under contract at Elland Road until 2026, but he has been attracting interest; Celta Vigo, a Spanish team, is reportedly one of his admirers. Despite this, Meslier is having a challenging season; before Saturday’s match against Cardiff, his save percentage of 65 was the seventh worst in the Championship, and he had given up 1.5 goals more than he “should” have in relation to post-shot xG.
That was below the average performance of 27 keepers in the division, so Leeds’ consideration of cashing in and signing a successor is understandable.
Leeds is keeping an eye on Dragowski
Journalist Dominik Schneider claims that Leeds “could make [an] offer” if they choose to trade Meslier and that they are “interested” in Spezia goalkeeper Bart Dragowski.
Dragowski was being pursued by Hull City, who were one spot behind Leeds in the play-off rankings going into Saturday. However, a move to the Tigers has been ruled out because Hull City cannot afford his wage of over €1 million a year, or roughly £16,500 per week. Leeds may be able to take advantage of this if they need to enter the goalkeeper market.
One would have to adjust “Superman” to Before making a significant transfer to the Italian team Fiorentina in 2016, Farke Dragowski had his first taste of senior football with Jagellonia in his home Poland. After six years at Florence, he moved to Spezia in 2022, where he ended up finishing 18th and being demoted due to goal differential.
The statistics imply that rather than as a result of Dragowski, they met their demise in spite of him. He’s been dubbed “Superman” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, and the table below shows that he lived up to that nickname last season, recording three figures in saves, which was among the highest totals in the division.
It’s important to remember that there could need to be a period of alteration in order to suit Daniel Farke’s playwriting approach. Meslier has played the fourth-lowest percentage of launched passes (40+ yards) of any Championship stopper this season (18.1%), undoubtedly at the manager’s direction, suggesting a penchant for playing out of the back. Dragowski has obviously worked at Spezia under a different ideology.
He does, however, feel most at ease while sweeping, which will allow Leeds and Farke to play an aggressive defensive line knowing that their ‘keeper can cover some of the space they leave behind. It is still to be seen if Leeds would act on the fascinating package that the 26-year-old presents.
