Exclusive:'Not an ideal situation' - Tony Dorigo weighs in on Illan Meslier after fresh twist in his Leeds United career
Leeds United legend Tony Dorigo has conceded Illan Meslier is not in an ideal situation at Elland Road.
In the latter stages of the summer transfer window, Meslier looked destined to depart West Yorkshire after six years at the club.
It appeared to be a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, with the Frenchman having tumbled down the pecking order.
However, when the summer window closed, the 25-year-old was still on the books in LS11.
Meslier has quickly gone from looking set to move on to being required, with the goalkeeper set to return to the squad for the upcoming trip to Fulham.
An injury to Lucas Perri has pushed Karl Darlow into the number one spot and Meslier is expected to return to the bench.
Illan Meslier admission
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Dorigo said: “As always, there's a buying and a selling club and a player in the middle, and sometimes those three don't quite align.
“For Illan, it's not an ideal situation, but he's a professional and I'm sure he'll make the best of it and wait for his opportunity - whether it's at Leeds or somewhere else."
Since his initial loan move from Lorient in 2019, Meslier has spent the bulk of his time in West Yorkshire as the goalkeeper of choice.
He was briefly dislodged by Joel Robles in 2023, later losing his spot to Darlow for last season’s Championship run-in.
Tony Dorigo on Illan Meslier’s struggles
Dorigo said: “Goalkeeper's a unique position, they certainly need backing. They need a run of games. Illan will say himself, last season he got backing but made mistakes. You keep backing your goalkeeper bit eventually, I think it was one mistake too many. The manager changed it.
"Karl Darlow came in at the end of last season and didn't make mistakes, just solid, superb, and got through. You can see why [the change was made].
"You're coming up to the Premier League, you're looking to improve in every single position. We've gone out and bought Lucas Perri. That's what happens in football and every player understands that.
“What you then want to do, of course, is let them go somewhere and get on with things, improve and get back to playing. I think that's the difficulty so far.”