Arsenal are reported to be close to completing a free transfer for former Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier, a move intended to add experienced options to the club\u2019s goalkeeping group. Meslier spent six of his seven seasons as the starter at Elland Road, helped Leeds to two promotions and has more than 100 Premier League appearances to his name.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman lost his place in the pecking order in 2025\u201326 when Karl Darlow took over as Leeds starter. Meslier did not play a single minute of senior football for the Whites that season and was instead used with the club\u2019s U-21s.<\/p>\n
At Arsenal, three-time Premier League Golden Glove award winner David Raya is expected to remain the clear first choice. The proposed signing is described as providing flexibility in the depth chart rather than immediate competition for the starting role.<\/p>\n
Reports indicate Meslier\u2019s arrival could facilitate a loan move for Arsenal\u2019s England U-21 goalkeeper Tommy Setford. The 20 year old has significant potential but, according to The Athletic, Arsenal believe he needs consistent playing time at a more competitive level for his development.<\/p>\n
Kepa Arrizabalaga is currently Raya\u2019s backup. He has two years remaining on his contract and Sky Sports recently suggested the Spaniard could be receptive to an opportunity to start elsewhere. If Kepa were to leave, Meslier would be poised to move from third choice into the role of Raya\u2019s backup for 2026\u201327.<\/p>\n
Though Meslier\u2019s career did not follow the trajectory some expected after his early breakthrough at Leeds, he brings top-flight experience and will arrive as a free agent whose signing cost will be limited to wages. Arsenal\u2019s management under Mikel Arteta is planning squad turnover despite securing the club\u2019s long-sought Premier League success, with this addition framed as part of that ongoing refresh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal close to finalising Illan Meslier deal, adding experienced, wage-only signing to goalkeeping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,702],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-leeds-united"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}