NIGEL MARTYN warned Leeds fans to enjoy Illan Meslier while they can before the big boys come knocking.
The ex-Whites keeper admits the France U21 stopper is “miles ahead” of where he was aged 22 and reckons the best is yet to come.
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Meslier is seen as one of Europe’s hottest young talents and attracted interest from Manchester United and Leicester this summer.
Martyn, 56, sprung to his defence in 2020 when he was getting grief from supporters, pointing out that he was playing non-league football in Cornwall at the same age.
While the former England stopper made his top-flight debut when 23, Meslier has already racked up 79 Prem games.
And Martyn told SunSport: “He won’t realise it now but he’s nowhere near his best.
“The toughest thing will be keeping hold of him in the next two or three years, when he really starts to develop.
“With the saves he makes at such a young age, there will be people watching him already and just timing when they want to make the call to try and get him.
“The thing for us is to enjoy him for as long as we can and try to keep hold of him for as long as we can.
“I’m a big fan. He was getting a bit of grief a couple of years ago so I posted a picture on Twitter of me at that age, playing in the Cornwall senior cup for St Blazey!
“Development wise, he is miles ahead of where I was.”
Nigel Martyn was speaking at the launch of William Hill’s newly transformed, state-of-the-art shop on Vicar Lane, Leeds. This exciting, new digital shop also delivers innovations in player safety.
