Top 3 options for Manchester United to replace David de Gea
By Vatsal Gupta
Illan Meslier (Leeds United)
Traditionally, United’s buys from their traditional rivals haven’t turned out to be too bad. Rio Ferdinand and Eric Cantona are the two biggest examples. It won’t be a surprise if Meslier adds his name to the list if he joins United. That’s how good he is.
One look at Leeds United’s goals conceded figure doesn’t paint a pretty picture. With Meslier in goal, Leeds have traditionally been one of the leaker sides. However, this is more down to their gung-ho tactics under Marcelo Bielsa earlier, not improving much under Jesse Marsch.
Amidst all this chaos, however, Meslier has come through with his stock risen. Targeted at this point by pretty much every top side, especially in the Premier League, Meslier’s time at Leeds could soon be coming to an end.
At just 23 years old, Meslier has experience playing in the Premier League for almost 3 years. He too, like Raya and Costa, will be a big upgrade on David de Gea’s sweeping skills.
Having the formative years of his development under the tutelage of Marcelo Bielsa, the PL years have been a true baptism of fire for Meslier. Bielsa’s time used to man-mark the opposition all over the pitch, routinely being dragged away from their position. In such cases, it would lead to Meslier having to save the day, either by coming off his line, or pulling off reflex saves.
Meslier would undoubtedly raise his game in a better team, especially in a team that would dominate possession. In such a team, Meslier’s sweeping game would come to the fore and his reflex saves would help the team rest easy when chances are conceded.
In many ways, Meslier gives the best of both worlds of Raya and Costa. He is Costa’s age, with Raya’s PL experience. If Meslier reaches his ceiling, any club that has him would sort their GK spot for more than a decade.
Besides these picks, there is the wildcard in the name of Dean Henderson. If Manchester United manage to mend their fences with him, he could be a shrewd in-house solution to a long-standing problem. There are other options, like Jordan Pickford, but he would be difficult to extract from Everton. No matter which direction the club goes, David de Gea’s future needs to be dealt with on priority.
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