‘The more I saw of him the better he got’: BBC pundit blown away by 20-year-old Leeds player

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Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier has been named in Garth Crooks’ latest Premier League Team of the Week following his impressive display for Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites at the weekend.

The 20-year-old has been entrusted with the first-team gloves at Elland Road and is improving with each passing matchday, culminating in a superb performance on Sunday.

Meslier kept a clean sheet as Leeds ran out 1-0 winners over Sheffield United, making a string of great saves including two remarkable ones to deny John Lundstram and George Baldock.

“I must be honest, I didn’t know an awful lot about Illan Meslier but by the end of the game I knew everything I needed to know,” Crooks wrote on BBC Sport.

“The Leeds keeper made two remarkable saves from John Lundstram and another from George Baldock in a first half full of commitment from both sides.

“The more I saw of him the better he got. I haven’t seen a Leeds keeper with this sort of promise since I first watched a young Mervyn Day 40 years ago.”

Leeds grabbed a late winner against their Yorkshire rivals, Patrick Bamford rising at the back post and heading home Jack Harrison’s cross.

The Whites sit sixth in the Premier League table following two wins from their opening three matches.

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Meslier has enjoyed a superb breakthrough year for Leeds, impressing in his debut against Arsenal and improving with each passing game.

Bielsa has given the youngster a baptism of fire to say the least but he has shown he’s up to the task, and his latest display certainly outlines what an asset Leeds have on their books.