Two of the world’s most valuable young goalkeepers play for Leeds United

Leeds United may well have an illustrious history, but fans may still be surprised by how much their goalkeepers are worth.

Two of the Whites’ shot-stoppers have managed to find themselves in the list of the top ten most expensive young goalies on the planet.

Leeds are currently in 15th place in the Premier League, but one of the major positives from this season has been the continued impressive performances of Illan Meslier. In addition, the club also brought in the highly-rated Norwegian Kristoffer Klaesson in the summer.

Read: The most valuable young centre-back in world football left his last club for free

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Let’s take a look in more detail at their two goalkeepers and why they are so highly valued:

Illan Meslier

Leeds goalkeepers
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The Frenchman is worth a whopping €40million according to data from CIES, making him the second most valuable goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues.

During a loan spell from FC Lorient, the 21-year-old impressed the Elland Road faithful. His exceptional performances earned him a full-time switch to the Premier League.

On 28 September 2019, Meslier was named as the man of the man in a heated Yorkshire derby win against Sheffield United. The Leeds man made a string of five saves, including an exceptional one from close range.

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By February, he had made history by becoming the first Premier League goalkeeper under the age of 21 to have recorded eight clean sheets in a single season.

He has since signed a new contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2026. Therefore, the French international will likely continue to enchant Elland Road with his wonderful saves for a long time to come.

Kristoffer Klaesson

Klaesson Leeds goalkeepers
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The Norwegian is Leeds’ second entry in the CIES table, which ranks him as the eighth-most valuable shot-stopper in Europe’s top five leagues. Despite not being the number one choice goalkeeper at the Yorkshire club, he has still shown his talent when he’s had the opportunity.

The 21-year-old has acquired a market value of €8 million and will believe that he can become the new number one at Elland Road. But if Klaesson decides he’d like to play first-team football next season, then there’d likely be a plethora of teams willing to sign him.

He may not be a superstar yet, but there’s no doubt that his breakthrough is coming in the not too distant future.

Who else is in the top 10 list?

According to CIES, Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma has the highest market value of any shot-stopper on the planet. The Italian is supposedly worth a staggering €80 million, which is double that of any young goalkeeper on Earth.

However, the Yorkshire side can claim plenty of bragging rights, owning two of the top ten players on this list.

The Yorkshire side may choose to keep Meslier and Klaesson so they can then utilise them in their side going forward. Both players are undoubtedly wonderful assets both now and in the future.

But with their values being so high, the Yorkshire club may sell them on for big money. Regardless of whatever decision they make, these two shot-stoppers will benefit the club no matter what.

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