Jamie Carragher pulled no punches with his assessment of Newcastle target Illan Meslier on Monday

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Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher is clearly not a fan of Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier if his comments on Monday night are anything to go by, and his assessment should be giving Newcastle United pause for thought.

In January a report from RMC Sport in France claimed Newcastle were keeping a close eye on Leeds‘ young goalkeeper, Illan Meslier but it never went any further than that.

After Meslier let in six goals against Liverpool last night, form Red Jamie Carragher was less than complimentary when talking about the Frenchman, saying live on Sky Sports: “They’ve got really poor defenders. Really poor. I’ve never been convinced with the goalkeeper… he’s got no presence. It looks like they’ve got a kid in goal. I’ve always felt that.”

Meslier is still very young for a goalkeeper

Talk about kicking a man while he’s down. Meslier is still only 23 and this season he became the youngest goalkeeper to hit 100 Premier League appearances.

He’s had some outstanding games for Leeds and it’s clear there’s a good ‘keeper there, but maybe it’s a bit too soon for him to be carrying a relegation threatened team.

Goalkeepers tend to come into their prime much later than outfield players. Nick Pope is 30 as is playing arguably the best football of his career for Newcastle this season.

Newcastle could do a lot worse than signing Illan Meslier

So while, right now it might seem like a bad move if Newcastle were interested in Meslier, the fact is he’s got plenty of years before he hits his peak.

HITC said in their report that Newcastle and Tottenham will likely now be reconsidering a move for Meslier after both were credited with an interest in January, but I think it could still be a good move for either club.

Newcastle need a young goalkeeper to be Nick Pope’s understudy and Tottenham just need anyone to replace calamity-prone Hugo Lloris.

I absolutely would not be opposed to Newcastle going in for Meslier in the summer, especially if Leeds get relegated. We should be able to pick him up much cheaper than if Leeds were to retain their top-flight status.

Nick Pope will still be the number one choice between the sticks next season, but having a young, talented ‘keeper pushing him for his starting place will only help him perform better. Meslier could learn a lot from Pope at the same time. It’s win-win.