While promotion has already allowed for Leeds United’s many new signings this summer to thrive, the step-up to the Premier League will also have solidified who is deadwood at Elland Road moving forward.
Indeed, with Noah Okafor continuing to impress with another top-flight strike against Tottenham Hotspur, you can’t help but fear for Jack Harrison’s long-term future as another option down the wings, considering the 28-year-old has just 130 minutes of league action so far this season under his belt.
Moreover, the nail looks to firmly be in Illan Meslier’s Leeds coffin, with Lucas Perri’s injury not handing him a redemption arc in between the sticks, as Karl Darlow is preferred to the error-prone Frenchman by Daniel Farke.
It’s been a disappointing fall from grace for the ex-Lorient stopper, who has never been able to recover from some costly moments last campaign that nearly derailed his side’s promotion mission.
How Illan Meslier became a villain at Elland Road
Originally added to the Elland Road camp when Marcelo Bielsa was still manager, Meslier has now notched up 214 games for the club, becoming something of a stalwart over a number of years.
Throw two Championship titles into the mix, and it’s clear that the 25-year-old hasn’t always been looked down upon as an accident waiting to happen in goal for the West Yorkshire outfit.
During 2023/24, Farke went as far as to label Meslier as “the best goalkeeper in the league.” How times change.
This outrageous showering of praise all unravelled rather quickly, however, when Meslier inexplicably gave up that goal away at fellow promotion winners Sunderland last October, with TalkSPORT commentator Mark Wilson branding the gaffe as one that “will live with him forever.”
It must have knocked his confidence, as another two errors directly led to efforts beating him across his full 39-game campaign, with Farke then dropping the shaky ‘keeper for his side’s final seven matches in the tense promotion run-in, despite his previous outlandish comments.
Meslier has yet to return to the first-team fold since being axed, and with his contract up next summer, it does appear as if the 25-year-old is on borrowed time now as a regular fixture at Elland Road.
He isn’t the only member of the promoted squad who could be falling victim to the step-up in quality, however, with another forgotten face facing the chop.
Leeds graduate is in danger under Farke
Meslier might well be considered lucky that he wasn’t shifted on during the summer, with the potential for the Frenchman to now be moved on this coming January, as Rangers reportedly circle for his services.
As it happens, Sam Byram didn’t hold any concerns during the summer that he was going to be let go, though, with an announcement coming in July that a one-year contract extension had been handed to the experienced defender, which was justified after being utilised as a worthwhile utility figure last campaign by Farke.
The 32-year-old only made 16 starts all season long, but he bowed out from these minimal moments in the first-team with five big chances created as a menace from the full-back spot, on top of also picking up six clean sheets. This ability to slot in and do a competent job at a moment’s notice would lead to his manager hailing him as “so important” as he can play “wherever I need him.”
Despite possessing this versatility up his sleeve, his minutes have become even sparser this season to date, with the likes of Gabriel Gudmundsson coming in to bolster the left-back personnel, effectively leaving the ex-West Ham United defender permanently on the periphery.
25/26
2
78
24/25
39
1617
23/24
36
2251
As is visible from the table above, it’s clear that Farke is relying less on Byram now to get him out of some sticky selection issues, with just a 71-minute run-out afforded to the number 25 in the Premier League so far this season.
This is the price the likes of Byram and Meslier have to, unfortunately, pay as their side strives for more success up a level, with flashier signings more cut out for the intensity of the top-flight preferred over them.
Having amassed 221 appearances for Leeds over two spells, next summer might well spell the end for Byram in West Yorkshire, unless he miraculously proves himself in the first team picture shortly.