Revealed: Illan Meslier snubbed Chelsea in 2018 for Lorient stay
According to The Sun, Illan Meslier snubbed Chelsea in 2018 when the Blues tried to sign him. Meslier eventually arrived in England a year later but he signed for Leeds United from Lorient. He has been very impressive for the Whites over the last season and a half, securing promotion in 2020.
However, his agent Xavier Fleury revealed that it could have been very different for his client had they not stayed back at Lorient in 2018.
There was interest from Chelsea as well as AS Monaco and Fleury believed that Meslier would have become a bench warmer had he chosen either of those two clubs.
“Both me and Illan believed that there was a greater chance of Illan playing in the first team at Lorient than at either Monaco or Chelsea. We knew there was a lot of interest but both Monaco and Chelsea wanted Illan for the future. For example, although the talks never reached a concrete stage, Chelsea wanted to buy Illan and send him on loan for a number of years.”
The pair decided it wasn’t for the best to join Chelsea because he wouldn’t be the first-choice or get that many games. He felt that Meslier could get an inroad into first-team games by staying back at Lorient and develop further.
“Because of this, we thought it wasn’t a good idea because Illan needed to settle at a club and play. This would not have been the case. As a goalkeeper you need to be number one, if you’re not then you can sit on the bench for years. To leave for Chelsea or Monaco for more money, but to not play first-team football and to be away from his family was not a good offer for Illan who, at the time, had regular first-team football in his path at Lorient.”
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Nonetheless, Fleury said that there are a few big clubs interested in Meslier now but his focus is on Leeds at the moment. While his client is happy at Elland Road, for now, a move in the future has not entirely been ruled out by his agent if Leeds cannot challenge for the big trophies. The Blues ended up signing Kepa in 2018 after the departure of Thibaut Courtois but had to bring in another keeper, Edouard Mendy, this season due to Kepa’s form.
