Thursday Evening Hot Links
What you may have missed (while I figure out what the hell I’m doing in the mornings for the time being). Happy Premier League and Serie A and La Liga Day Eve! Tomorrow is a good day to take off.
Leeds United
Former GK1 Illan Meslier has endured a dramatic fall from grace in the last six months. Meslier, who is just 25 years old yet ranks 7th all-time among Leeds United goalkeepers with 215 appearances, was replaced during the final month and a half of the Championship-winning 2024-25 season by Karl Darlow mainly because his hands looked like they had been the subject of a ping-pong paddle transplant. His TransferMarkt value has fallen from a height of €22 million in the 2022 season to the point where now Leeds are hoping to get in the neighborhood of £5-6 million, below the €6.5 million they paid FC Lorient for him in July 2020.
It’s absolutely worth mentioning that Leeds United are on the verge of signing free agent Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The 28-year old striker spent the last nine seasons with Everton, scoring 57 goals with 15 assists in 239 matches (179 starts) as Everton finished 16th, 17th, 15th, and 13th in the last four seasons, respectively. This also means that Leeds feel as though they’re unlikely to get Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz, especially after Atalanta and the Champions League came calling with interest. Should the deal go through in time, it may very well be that Calvert-Lewin’s Leeds debut would come on Monday against…Everton.
But Leeds are still hedging bets, or stacking bets, or whatever the metaphor may be as they are reported to be “tracking” Panathinaikos striker Fotis Ioannidis.
Tottenham’s late moves for Eberechi Eze and Savinho could push Manor Solomon back to Leeds United.
Sky Sports projects Leeds to finish 17th, ahead of Wolves, Sunderland, and Burnley. Meanwhile CBS Sports has Leeds finishing 16th, ahead of Wolves, West Ham, Sunderland, and Burnley. The Daily Mail chimes in with Leeds in 17th, ahead of Wolves, Burnley, and Sunderland.
Leeds will play Sheffield Wednesday in Round Two of the Carabao Cup with full match details yet to be confirmed.
Elsewhere
Opta: Could this be the strongest the Premier League has ever been?
33 BBC Sport writers and personalities + Opta and fkn AI projected their Premier League Top Four. Leeds is not among them. 22 said Liverpool will repeat, six said Manchester City, six said Arsenal, and one guy (Former England Great Chris Waddle) picked Chelsea.
Nottingham Forest have agreed to pay Manchester City £30 million for 22-year old midfielder James McAtee. Now City are thinking about hijacking Chelsea’s move for RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons.
Roma have made a £20 million bid for Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho. And if United miss out on £100 million Brighton man Carlos Baleba, they may turn to Morten Hjulmand.
The Times interviewed Everyone’s Crush Rebecca Lowe.
Friday Viewing Guide
11am (Central): Coppa Italia: Empoli v Reggiana. Paramount+.
11am: German Cup: FC Gütersloh 2000 v 1. FC Union Berlin. ESPN+.
11am: German Cup: SG Sonnenhof Großaspach v Bayer Leverkusen. ESPN+.
11:30am: Coppa Italia: Sassuolo v Catanzaro. Paramount+.
12pm: La Liga: Girona v Rayo Vallecano. ESPN+.
1:40pm: Scottish League Cup: Celtic v Falkirk. Paramount+.
1:45pm: German Cup: Arminia Bielefield v Werder Bremen. ESPN+.
1:45pm: Coppa Italia: Lecce v Juve Stabia. Paramount+.
2pm: Premier League: Liverpool v Bournemouth. NBC Sports/Universo/USA Network.
2:15pm: Coppa Italia: Genoa v Vicenza. Paramount+.
2:30pm: La Liga: Villareal v Real Oviedo. ESPN+.
7pm: NWSL: Washington Spirit v Racing Louisville FC. Prime Video.
9pm: NWSL: Utah Royals v Angel City FC. Paramount+.