Illan Meslier's Move to Arsenal: A Step Back or a New Summit?

Illan Meslier’s move to Arsenal was supposed to be straightforward: experienced cover, a reliable safety net behind David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga. To Graham Stack, it looks like something else entirely. A backward step. A goalkeeper easing off the accelerator at 26.

Meslier arrived in north London on a free after six years at Elland Road, where he played 215 times for Leeds United and became a familiar figure in the Premier League. That résumé is exactly why Stack cannot get his head around the decision to accept a third-choice role.

“I question him, I really do question the goalkeeper,” the former Arsenal and Reading stopper told Metro. “The reason I say that is that he’s got Premier League experience, he’s played countless games in the Premier League, he’s got bundles of experience, been at Leeds for I don’t know how many years.

“He’s played loads of games, and maybe he doesn’t have that burning desire to go and play games and put himself under pressure. Maybe that’s what he’s after.

“But I’m just surprised with someone of Meslier’s quality that he’s decided to almost chuck the towel in and be a number three.”

For Stack, this is about more than one goalkeeper’s ambition. It’s a question of what Arsenal are doing with their own.

Meslier’s arrival has already pushed 20-year-old Tommy Setford towards the exit door, at least temporarily, with the youngster expected to head out on loan in search of regular minutes. To Stack, that is a red flag for a club that prides itself on its academy.

“Look, he’s experienced, but it’s highly unlikely that you would use him,” Stack said. “My question is, is there not another goalkeeper at Arsenal Football Club that’s capable of that?

“What are they doing at the club that they’re not producing any goalies? They just keep signing goalies. At what point is there going to be an Arsenal goalkeeper that’s going to, not even break through, but I’m talking about being a number three.”

While Stack sees a keeper settling for the shadows, Meslier paints a very different picture. Frozen out by Daniel Farke in his final season at Leeds, the Frenchman has lived both promotion and the cold edge of rejection. For him, the move to the capital is not a retreat. It is the summit.

He has already pulled on the shirt, making his debut in a pre-season friendly against Girona, and speaks like a man who believes he has landed at the heart of English football.

“I’m extremely happy. It's a great day for me because I have just joined the champions. For me, Arsenal is the biggest club in England. I'm very happy and very proud to join Arsenal. I cannot wait to show the love that I've got for this badge, and I cannot wait to win trophies with this team, because this is a club that needs to lift trophies again and again,” Meslier told the club’s official website.

So while the goalkeeping hierarchy stirs debate, the wider picture at Arsenal looks far more convincing to Stack. He is critical of the pathway for young keepers, but bullish about everything else.

Arsenal have moved aggressively in the market, adding Bruno Guimaraes as a marquee signing and bolstering the squad with Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis. The squad that finally got over the line in the title race has been strengthened, not picked apart.

“Absolutely, Arsenal will win it,” Stack said, without hesitation. “I think Arsenal will be buzzing after last year, and think it’s a situation now where it’s basically the monkey off their back.

“They will be going into the season absolutely buzzing, and with the signing of Guimaraes and probably more to come between now and the start of the season, I think they will definitely strengthen.

“I fancy Arsenal to go and win it, but I think that it will be a close-run race with Man City, I think City will be close behind them.”

So Meslier steps into a dressing room tipped to go back-to-back, a serial starter turned squad man in a team that expects to collect medals. Stack sees a gamble with his career. Meslier sees the peak of it.

One of them will be proved right when the trophies – and the team sheets – start to stack up.