Illan Meslier

Location: Leeds, England

The goalkeeper moved from Ligue 2 club FC Lorient to Leeds United to test himself against the best in the Premier League. Elland Road will prove a difficult hunting ground for strikers with the French elastic man between the posts! (Image: Instagram)

Born on March 2nd, 2000, in Lorient France, the Frenchman began his footballing journey as early as six years of age with local club Merlevenez but moved to FC Lorient three years later to join their youth academy. He stayed with Les Merlus through the years, coming through the youth ranks before finally turning pro in 2018. Even before Mes put on his gloves for FC Lorient’s first-team he was subject to numerous bids from some of Europe’s top clubs but FC Lorient kept hold of their prized possession and on August 14th, 2018, the goalie made his debut for Le FCL, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Valenciennes FC in the Coupe de la Ligue. He would replicate the performance over Lorient’s next five fixtures, as strikers failed to score on his goal and such impressive performances led him to cement his place in the starting eleven. In his debut season Mes featured in 30 games across all competitions and kept a remarkable 11 clean sheets. EFL Championship club Leeds United signed the 6’6 Frenchman on a season long loan in August 2019. He made his debut the following January in an FA Cup tie against Premier League club Arsenal, which the Gunners won 1-0; his league debut came against in February in a 4-0 win over Hull City. The Frenchman became Leeds’ first-choice keeper following a suspension to Kiko Casilla. Mes kept 7 clean sheets in the last 10 games of the season to earn Leeds United promotion to the Premier League, thereby solidifying his position in goal. Leeds United would make the Frenchman’s move to Elland Road permanent in the off season, and the goalie made his Premier League debut in the opening game of the season, a scintillating match which finished 4-3 in favour of defending champions Liverpool.