Leeds United news as Illan Meslier tops goalkeeper…

Leeds United news as Illan Meslier tops goalkeeper list and deadline day reaction

Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Friday, September 2.

Meslier named best goalkeeper born in 2000

Leeds United shot-stopper Illan Meslier has been named the best goalkeeper born in 2000 by CIES Football Observatory. CIES published its latest study using a mathematical formula to rank footballers based on their statistical performances, the amount of minute played and the performance of a player's team.

Meslier ranked ninth in the overall list with a score of 90.1 - ahead of fellow Premier League stars such as Julian Alvarez (Manchester City); Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) and Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace).

Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, who scored the winning goal in this year's Champions League final against Liverpool, topped the list with an astonishing score of 100.

Manchester City duo Phil Foden (92.8) and Erling Haaland (91.3) finished fourth and seventh respectively. Meslier has proven to be a very shrewd buy from Marcelo Bielsa during the summer transfer window ahead of their Premier League return in 2020.

The 22-year-old arrived at Elland Road from FC Lorient for a fee of just £5.85million and has established himself as one of the most exciting young goalkeepers in Europe with his supreme reflexes and accurate distribution.

He is already closing in on 100 appearances for the Whites across all competitions (94) - conceding 145 goals and registering 26 clean sheets in the process.

Leeds sign Italian teenager late on deadline day

Teenager Wilfried Gnonto has snuck into Leeds United in the closing moments of the summer transfer window after a transfer was agreed with Zurich.

The Italy international arrives at Elland Road on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee after a deadline day which looked like it would leave the Whites empty-handed.

With Daniel James’s loan to Fulham waiting to go through all day, United appeared to be ending the day a man down after Bamba Dieng had his head turned as he prepared to board a flight to the UK.

The Marseille forward would ultimately fail a medical at Nice anyway, but it left Leeds looking short of options with the hours ebbing away.

Read the full story here.

James joins Fulham on loan

Leeds United have sanctioned the loan exit of Daniel James to Fulham for the season. The Wales international is understood to have made the move in an effort to protect his match time ahead of the World Cup.

While Tottenham Hotspur had the strongest links to the winger coming into deadline day, there were multiple Premier League outfits monitoring his situation. Neither Leeds nor James were pushing to make a transfer happen in the days leading up to the window’s deadline.

However, Fulham emerged as front-runners and once the Whites had agreed a fee and personal terms with Bamba Dieng at Thursday lunchtime, the wheels were greased for James’s London switch.

Read the full story here.

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