Arsenal’s new signing only agreed initial 2-year deal

Arsenal completed the free transfer addition of Illan Meslier last week, but not for quite as long as most new signings in his age bracket.

In most cases, if a 26-year-old player left a Premier League club to join Arsenal, you’d expect that player to sign a five-year contract.

But with the Gunners signing Illan Meslier on a free transfer from Leeds United last week, Tom Canton reports for Football.London that the goalkeeper has only signed a two-year deal, with an option for a third.

Part of that is likely related to Meslier’s status in the squad. Canton writes that the goalkeeper is expected to be Arsenal’s third choice, confirming reports from elsewhere that Tommy Setford will be allowed to leave on loan.

Meslier should still have his peak years ahead of him, and it would be difficult to convince him to sign the entirety of those years away for a third-choice role.

A shorter-term deal is more reasonable, giving the player the chance to assess whether he’ll ever get the opportunity to step up into a second or first-choice spot at Arsenal.

On the other side, Arsenal may not have been that keen to sign Meslier to a five-year deal anyway. There’s an element of risk here, with the goalkeeper’s last senior appearance coming in March 2025.

The hope will be that Meslier gets back up to speed and is ready to perform if called upon, but he’s certainly out of practice. If things don’t go well, Arsenal won’t want to be stuck with him into the 2030s.

Meslier is certainly saying all the right things in his club media interviews, emphasising that he’s joining the best team in the country right now.

“I’m extremely, extremely happy,” Meslier told Arsenal. “It’s a great day for me because I’ve just joined the champions.

“It’s the biggest club here in England, so I’m very happy to join this massive club, and it’s also a massive opportunity for me. I’m extremely happy to join and to try to do the back-to-back.

“Last season was a special year, strangely enough for me. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in the careers of players. But I never give up. I keep working very hard every day, training, always being ready for the players who need help. 

“I worked a lot mentally because I had a different perspective on football and training. It helped me a lot, to be honest. So I come back this year with a lot of anger and determination. I want to give everything and show my level is still high and that Arsenal did a great job to take me.”

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