Troubled Leeds player to be offloaded after fiery social media post

A certain troubled Leeds United player looks set to be offloaded after he posted a fiery social media post via his Instagram stories.

Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla is expected to be got rid of by the Whites come this summer, especially after he let his frustrations get the better of him at failing to be named in the squad for the West Ham game.

Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson moved West Ham above Everton and two points off fourth-placed Chelsea with their Premier League win against Leeds; Patrick Bamford missed two fine chances and Rodrigo saw a shot cleared off line in dominant second half from visitors.

Now unused goalkeeper Casilla, who moved to Elland Road 26 months ago in a high-profile signing from Real Madrid, has grown frustrated and seems to want out.

He is known to have previously made a catalogue of errors, causing him to lose his place this season to the young and impressive French youngster Illan Meslier.

Casilla received a well-publicised ban for racist language which has also not helped the keeper’s cause.

The 34-year-old has played three times for Leeds this season – with one of those appearances resulting in a 3-0 FA Cup defeat against League Two outfit Crawley Town.

Despite being fit, Casilla has failed to make the matchday squad for Monday night’s 2-0 defeat at the Hammers and his place on the bench was taken by young Italian Elia Caprile instead.

Outlining his anger at his failure to make the squad, Casilla took to his social media account to strongly hint all was not well in the relationship between him and the club.

“I’m slow to go, because I believe in changes. And I wait, and I endure, and I keep. But one day I get tired, and without saying anything I leave everything and leave.

“Believe me that once I get tired I won’t come back again, because I give everything before I leave.”

Casilla was publicly backed by manager Marcelo Bielsa in January 2021, stating that he retains the trust and support of the Leeds coaching staff and players.

No game time however means a likely exit though so it would be no shock to see him depart this summer, especially as he is the club’s highest-paid stars.

Casilla has two years left on the four and a half year deal which he signed at Elland Road. However, they could grant him a free transfer back to Spain if there were a suitor to come forward.

Leeds have been linked with one of La Liga’s top goalkeepers, 28 year old Alaves keeper Fernando Pacheco as a replacement.

Discussing Casilla’s situation, The Athletic’s Phil Hay said: “He’s one of the players we’ve been expecting Leeds to move on in the summer. Telling that he was fit on Monday but not involved.”

Speaking earlier this year, Bielsa said he would continue to trust Casilla whenever he is needed.

“I fully trust in Kiko. I will do the utmost possible to help him. I think the treatment Kiko has suffered ignores the fact he’s a player who played 40 games for Real Madrid.

“Apart from whether his performances were good or bad, we forget all the thing he has done to get the team promoted. People also don’t consider how he’s being treated publicly given the situation that he had to go through.”

Bielsa added: “I believe in him, his teammates believe in him and we are close to him. We value him as a person and a footballer.

“We accept what people think of him in the media. But we know his past and we know his conditions. We care about him a lot as a human being.”

The troubled Leeds player is to be offloaded after his fiery social media post, which got plenty of people talking…

@yorkmikey1: Can you imagine someone wanting him at £40k a week ?

@MikeHawker75: Depends how he leaves, if he’s sold some of that could replace wages, or his contract could be terminated by mutual concent saving a club buying him so wages can be inflated? I think that’s what Leeds did

@Gaz1919L: One can only hope mate

@charliechar: Brilliant. Good riddance.

@SamOGara4: Huge wages and still a while on the contract, he’s helped leeds a lot in his 1 1/2 seasons as number 1, but made a lot of mistakes aswell, hope he leaves in the summer but wish him well in the future

@john606sc: We have some terrible supporters. For sure he wasn’t our best player, but he was a key part of us getting promotion last year. He is obviously not good enough for the prem, but he goes with my best wishes. MOTogether!

@AndrewHaigh: Much needed boost for the lads ahead of the run-in

@FinugeForever: Jesus I watched that play off game back lately. Even apart from The Incident he’s a shockingly bad goalkeeper. Decent distribution but the fundamentals are absent.

@OfficialTW1TCH: So many ‘so called’ fans forgetting what the T in MOT stands for. Massive part of our promotion season, yeah he’s made mistakes (and driven me crazy at times) but so have other players.

@modern_fan: Together doesn’t include racists, that can’t apologise and accept what they’ve done.

@jonsmith_lufc: It’s ok, Donnarumma is his replacement

@ed_mcintyre98: Has Kiko just packed his bags and left Leeds?

@Cossy1983: Kiko’s really dropped the ball here. And in general.

@arnie_booth: I wonder if they have done a deal to pay him off.

@charlieros1e: Good. Bye Kiko.

@Jakeee_98: He’s slow to go because nobody’s gonna pay him a wage like we do

@markydh: It’s too soon to him being dropped from the bench for it to not be related. I mean, it could be a personal issue that’s not even football-related, but we need someone who is content with being a number 2 who is nevertheless genuinely good enough to challenge Meslier.

@lukeoreilly: kiko casilla on instagram stories putting indirect quotes on like a year 10 schoolgirl. the meaning of the post is translated and highly seems kikos not happy not being in the squad. however his agent says otherwise. we need this saga to finish ASAP

@samender91: One of the biggest positives from Monday that he was dropped from the bench. Suggests the club may have decided to move him on in the summer. We need a replacement who can not only be a competent back-up but can also push for a first team place and keep Meslier on his toes.

@BigJimmy_V: 18 clean sheets last season, excellent on his day but for all parties best he leaves asap

@fckahuna: That tweet is laughable. Is he totally unaware of how much a liability he has been? ‘Be afraid – once I go I am gone’! Mate – sure it’d be a pretty easy whip round for your air fare.

@Tdp0709: Good. In the top 3 worst keepers I’ve we’ve ever had

@Tonylufc28: Get rid asap. Not wanted by most here.

@rpatz1919: Does he want a lift to the airport?