Leeds United lost one key player ahead of the 2019-20 season as central defender Pontus Jansson, who was one of the best players for The Whites last season, left the club for Championship rival Brentford. Now, manager Marcelo Bielsa could lose another experienced player as goalkeeper Kiko Casilla is reportedly a target for Spanish side Sevilla. Marca are reporting that Sevilla are to enquire about the availability of the goalkeeper.
Casilla joined Leeds earlier this year in the January transfer window, signing from Real Madrid on a four and a half year contract, which will expire only in 2023. The 32-year-old goalkeeper played 19 games for Leeds in the 2018-19 season, conceding 22 goals.
He began his career at Real Madrid and left the club in 2007, joining Espanyol, where he played over 120 games for the club before returning to Madrid in 2015, playing 43 games with the Spanish giants, and was a part of the squad that won one La Liga title as well as three Champions League titles. Sevilla could probably be interested in Casilla to replace Sergio Rico in the squad, who could be on the way out of the Spanish club. 30-year-old Tomas Vaclik is the current No. 1 at Sevilla.
Should the Whites let him go?
Although Casilla wasn’t in very good form for Leeds United in the half-season that he spent at the club, it was a pretty good initiation for a player who had never played outside of his home country, especially a goalkeeper in English football, which is known to be much more physical and aggressive than Spanish football.
His experience and talent, having played for Real Madrid, will be invaluable for Leeds and they should do everything in their power to keep hold of him. But if Casilla does want to leave and head back to Spain, Leeds must either ensure that they get a big transfer fee, or a transfer fee plus Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico in exchange for Casilla.
22-year-old Bailey Peacock-Farrell who played in goal for Leeds in the first half of the 2018-19 season is still inexperienced and will probably need a year or two before he becomes Leeds’ No. 1 keeper, hence Leeds must sign a replacement for Casilla if the experienced keeper does leave the club.