Leeds banter 7

07 Jul 2026 17:53:09
So with mes going to Arsenal I’d take Kepa as a number 1.

07 Jul 2026 20:03:31
What's all this malarkey about 'world class' Meslier off to warm Arsenal's bench? Not sure that's a good career move for him.

He said, just a season or two ago, he was only interested in playing and being a number 1.

07 Jul 2026 20:12:31
He said he wouldn't leave Leeds in January as he wanted the signing on fee to be bigger. So, I imagine, if that's his attitude toward money, I am sure he would bench warm for an extra 0 on his bank balance.

07 Jul 2026 20:28:29
Yes, Lld.. that was Jan..

But, 2 years ago, Mes was quoted as only wanting to join a club as a number 1.

Interesting to know how much Mes actually rates himself these days. He has had a rough 4 years of clangers.

Sitting on a bench as a gk is super easy, and yes, with more money!

07 Jul 2026 22:10:46
I think it's a fantastic move for him and the very best of luck to him.
If Arsenal's number two, Kepa Arrizabalaga, leaves as touted, then he should get plenty of cup games to play in.
I personally hope he does well after being hounded out of the club by many dissatisfied Leeds Utd fans.


He needs a new start, and what better club to do that at than Champions Arsenal, even if it is as backup keeper.

I simply don't get the hatred towards him?

07 Jul 2026 22:40:46
Agree, OP. We didn't want him, so he moves on, hopefully to better things, and he should go with our best wishes.

07 Jul 2026 22:52:49
No OP, it's a case of simply not rating Meslier, nothing else.. similar to your sizeable disdain of Jessie Marsch.

Will Arteta play Mes in Champ League? I very much doubt it.

So, not sure how Mes playing a handful of League Cup games is going to further his career at all.

08 Jul 2026 05:15:13
Arsenal will have a very big chance of winning a domestic trophy, so it will be more than a couple of games.
How do you know he won't have an opportunity to play some group stage CL games?
Also, and most importantly, he will be working alongside Raya and their goalkeeping coach, which I'm certain will be an invaluable experience for a still relatively young keeper.



There is still a very good keeper in Meslier who has not been handled well by our club. He has now an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong.

08 Jul 2026 05:38:25
Their goalkeeping coach might well improve him..

We shall see how much, if any, game time he gets.. Currently, he is Arsenal's 3rd choice gk, and there are no guarantees that Kepa is leaving Gooners.

08 Jul 2026 08:50:36
To say him going to Arsenal with no desire to play and pick up a wage packet, which he will probably be receiving less than his 80k pw at Leeds, is exactly the hatred and uninformed drivel that has zero substance.
He won't be the first Leeds player we have let go and have moved on to more success.



Arsenal obviously see the potential in him. You can be assured they wouldn't be wasting their time with someone who didn't win their interest.

As you say, Baz, we will see. My money's on him lighting up his career again in the football seasons to come.

08 Jul 2026 09:47:20
He didn't handle anything well at the club. Including the ball. The bloke simply ain't a goalkeeper in my eyes. Too many deficiencies. Don't care what he does at Arsenal, I'm just glad he is gone.

08 Jul 2026 10:10:12
Mes was thrown in the deep end far too soon. The club has badly mismanaged his development; they made a very young, good keeper with a lot of potential into one that ended up having his confidence torn apart, then tossed aside.
In my opinion, his development was wasted at Leeds.



He should have been a student of a good quality number 1 with plenty of experience. We probably couldn't afford that in the Championship. Stories of him saying he would never be back up keeper are baseless, and only feed into the narrative that everyone wants to believe.

08 Jul 2026 11:32:39
What Aus said.

And,

Mes was not on £80k a week at Leeds, OP.

More towards £30 K a week.

07 Jul 2026 13:23:36
Harry Gray has joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the 2026/27 season.

07 Jul 2026 07:48:36
So it appears that Suzuki has said no to Leeds, and we’ve apparently moved on from Shae Charles.

Keita looks like a big strong combative midfielder, does that mean we push Stach into the 8/ 10 role and have Keita and Amps as defensive midfielders?

Keeper wise, I think it’s always dangerous signing any player on the back of a WC, I wouldn’t deal with Man C for Trafford either as they will screw anyone in a deal.



There are loads of keepers out there and cheaper.

It’s a little concerning that despite the club stating this window will focus on the attack, we’ve barely been linked to any attackers except HW and Brandt (Brandt I’d swerve) .
We need players we can have big sell on value on.
We need
2 x CB
1 x LB
1 x Keeper
1 x midfielder
1 x ATM
1 x 9

Time to get busy as well as clearing the decks!

07 Jul 2026 10:07:00
Hate to say, but I can't see that happening, Dave. I fully agree, btw, but this has the same feeling as last year. We will get players, but not who we expect, and it will again be very late on in the window, but I may be totally wrong, I hope.

07 Jul 2026 11:36:25
Admire your optimism, Dave, but I see us getting 5 max. CB situation depends on whether Bornauw stays or goes; if he stays, we'll only get one to fill the Pascal slot. Keeper depends on what Darlow decides. Midfield: nothing likely except an AM (Brandt or another) .



Hopefully we'll at least get:
1x CB to replace PS
LWB backup for Gabby
AM/No 10
Striker to supplement DCL and Nmecha
Resolve GK situation.

And also hopefully lose:
Harrison, Schmidt, Wober, Gelhardt, Piroe.

07 Jul 2026 12:09:59
Yep, 5 signings max imo.

And the positions to which JR lists.

Currently, Leeds Utd have signed no one (officially, at least) , and more than 3 weeks of the window have already elapsed.

Added to that, Leeds' current recruitment team tend to do at best one incoming signing a week.

And there's now less than 8 weeks remaining of the window.

07 Jul 2026 13:17:20
Bri, we actually made a lot of early signings last year, so don't always leave it late.

As far as I am aware, we never put in any bids for Suzuki, so all the noise was likely made up - probably by the player's agent to get some interest.



As I said before, I get the feeling that if Darlow signs, we won't bring in another keeper unless it's a real bargain and £30m does not fit that criteria.

08 Jul 2026 07:24:42
I'm pretty certain we will not be paying 30 Mil for a goalkeeper and like Alf said there's been no contract concerning Suzuki.
In my opinion, Darlow is not the best keeper we've had and does have his faults. I think the club should keep him if he wants to stay.

08 Jul 2026 13:39:05
We have offered him a contract, OP, so the ball is in his court. Apparently, the club are a bit miffed he hasnt signed already.

07 Jul 2026 07:33:47
If England don't win, Belgium have just become my second favourite team.

Overturn that one Trump!

07 Jul 2026 08:24:10
Belgium have been moved to a new base in El Salvador!

07 Jul 2026 09:30:16
The Balogun saga probably gave the Belgians added incentive, but had the exact opposite effect on the Americans who produced their worst performance so far. After the tournament, FIFA must be told by member countries that this does not happen again.

07 Jul 2026 10:36:00
Love your undying optimism, Cleggy.

07 Jul 2026 12:22:02
Actually, Aus, stranger things have happened than this England team winning this WC.

Beating Norway is entirely feasible, and more likely than not, imo.

A semi final vs (probably) the Argies will be a challenge, but Cape Verde demonstrated very well, Argies aren't great.

A final vs France or Spain would be tough, but it's a one off game and both are beatable.

07 Jul 2026 13:31:46
So that's three stranger things have happened, Baz. I admire yours and Cleggy's optimism.

07 Jul 2026 13:14:00
My oh my, Starmer intervened with FIFA over KO time for last game, so it's just 1 person whose done it, that's going to hurt some people's narrative

07 Jul 2026 14:27:52
Well, Chris, if that's right, then it's also wrong. I don't get how any of this can happen. This is sport. Don't like it, and not happy at all. Politics should stay out of sport.

07 Jul 2026 14:43:56
Aussie, the Fosters will be on you when England win. You'll love it. 😀

07 Jul 2026 14:34:29
Point being Aus, you can wager a hefty price, silence will now be deafening from some when the ridicule cannot only be thrown at Trump

Guardian after reporting
Starmer got involved

Just waiting for the
But.
But.
But's now is all 🤣🤣🤣

06 Jul 2026 22:17:10
So Infantile and the Orange man do a side deal on Belugas red card - exactly where does that end? If USA are one down with minutes left, I assume a quick phone to request a penalty would not be out of order. Infantile (and indeed Orange) are both corrupt individuals, the integrity of the whole competition comes into question (if it wasn’t already) .

06 Jul 2026 23:10:32
Never gonna happen, but every nation should refuse to play until this ridiculous decision has been reversed.

06 Jul 2026 23:17:12
And the less said about the phoney peace prize the better.

07 Jul 2026 07:43:44
I believe they got their comeuppance. Nothing a chump could do about that spanking.

07 Jul 2026 08:25:50
Well done, Belgium. A big red card for the USA.

06 Jul 2026 22:06:21
Just read that Steve Hodge got over 7 million for Maradona’s shirt from the “hand of god” World Cup game.
Fair play.

06 Jul 2026 22:53:37
If I'd had £7M to spare (some hope) I'd have been tempted to buy it and publicly set fire to it in the centre of Buenos Aires.

06 Jul 2026 23:11:13
Was nice knowing you, JR.

07 Jul 2026 13:19:09
Yes, the most expensive football shirt ever by all accounts.

06 Jul 2026 08:51:26
Think Brandt is too old for prem now. Don't think we should sign him. He has left it too late to give prem a go. Maybe 28. Not 30.

06 Jul 2026 10:44:50
Pablo was 32, I think, when he came to Leeds.
So 30 doesn't concern me one bit.

06 Jul 2026 12:17:14
I'd be wary of signing players who rely on pace at that age. Dan James's contract extension, for example, was awful, and takes him comfortably past 30. But players with a more technical basis in dribbling, passing, vision, flair can last longer, and, indeed, as Canada highlights, Pablo is the perfect example of influence post 30.

06 Jul 2026 13:36:42
I know, Canada, about Pablo. Like many other players. Vision and experience. Brandt is 30, a winger, and has only ever played lower-league football. Big miss for me.

06 Jul 2026 16:35:33
Only played lower league? 218 appearances for Dortmund and 48 caps for Germany. How is that "only played lower league"?!

06 Jul 2026 17:07:22
Think you may have been googling wrong, dude Aus. 🙈🤣🤣🤣

06 Jul 2026 17:18:29
His primary position is an attacking midfielder rather than a winger (he can play there as well) .

06 Jul 2026 17:29:42
Aussies know their rugger.. Football maybe not so much..

Sir Mark Viduka excepted.

06 Jul 2026 19:28:37
And Kewell, Dorigo, Kisnorbo, Kilkenny, etc, Baz.

06 Jul 2026 20:03:36
Okon?

06 Jul 2026 20:44:00
Indeed JR,

Didn't we have an Aussie goalie too called Danny Milosevic .. or am I dreaming?

06 Jul 2026 23:01:58
Looking through the history books, Milosevic was here at the same time as Nigel Martyn and Paul Robinson, which explains why he never got a senior game.

06 Jul 2026 23:19:15
Kisnorbo was a fine player.

07 Jul 2026 06:32:17
Wasn't Paddy K a Kiwi?

07 Jul 2026 07:46:30
I've got a Milosevic shirt. His brother owned a restaurant on Rockingham Foreshore, and I got free Tucker cause I supported Leeds.

07 Jul 2026 08:29:53
Kisnorbo was born in Melbourne, Bright.

07 Jul 2026 15:26:54
Cheers, Feath! I stand corrected! Dunno why I thought otherwise!?

06 Jul 2026 08:45:53
So Henderson has badly injured his wrist celebrating, a recent post talked about this so it seems it was bound to happen, maybe just maybe players and more importantly subs will think twice before jumping all over each other and climbing on advertising hoardings, which aren't designed for standing on, but no it will carry on regardless and someone will get a career threatening injury. 🤕🤕

06 Jul 2026 12:18:32
Isn't the bigger issue that he injured his wrist, but had to have a stretcher to leave the pitch? No wonder they act like they've been shot when someone touches them!

06 Jul 2026 13:37:27
Good point, CJS. Private health cover, I reckon. 👍

06 Jul 2026 17:54:04
You want to watch the Joe Westerman video when he puts his knee cap back into place, tells the physio to go and carries on playing. Suppose he didn't have private health cover.

06 Jul 2026 19:36:58
Don't be too quick to judge. Traumatic injuries like that can cause shock and oxygen deficit, which is bad news where the air is 10% thinner - that's probably why they put him on oxygen.

06 Jul 2026 04:05:15
Now that's a game of football.

06 Jul 2026 09:23:52
Must have been enthralling and entertaining for the neutrals after the first 30 minutes.

A very intense, tough, heroic match. Defo one of England's more impressive WC victories.

Hats off to Jude Bellingham.

And also Jordan Pickford and the continuous, fast, direct running of Anthony Gordon, who really impressed me in this match.

06 Jul 2026 10:35:08
Couldn't fault Bellingham last night and as you say, Gordon put a great shift in. Norway next, they will be no pushovers, but a performance like last night should see us through.

06 Jul 2026 19:42:01
Also a mention for Pickford, he may be an arrogant b****** on the pitch, but was near faultless last night.