Former Leeds United forward Noel Whelan believes that the club will need to sign a new goalkeeper if they win promotion to the Premier League.

Kiko Casilla has been the number one for the Whites for much of this season but he is currently serving a lengthy ban for using racist language towards Jonathan Leko in a game earlier this season.

As a result, Illan Meslier has stepped up, with the French youngster impressing, and it appears as though the Yorkshire club will look to sign the stopper permanently in the summer.

However, speaking to Football Insider, Whelan feels the 19-year-old won't be ready for top-flight football and having tipped Casilla to leave, he explained that a new keeper could be a primary target for Marcelo Bielsa.

"Will he be our first choice next year if we are in the Premier League? I don’t think he will be. I think we’ll be looking for a more experienced goalkeeper, one that he can learn from.

"If we do go up I think we’ll look for a more complete, more established goalkeeper right now because I think we’ll need that but he’ll definitely be the number two there, without a shadow of a doubt."

The verdict

Many will agree with Whelan's assessment here and whilst Meslier is a fantastic prospect, he will need time to develop into a top Premier League keeper.

As well as the recent issue that brought the suspension, there were already doubts about Casilla's ability to play at a higher level, so you can imagine he will be moved on in the summer.

We all know the importance of having a quality keeper in the Premier League and you would expect Leeds to do all they can to find a clear upgrade in the coming months.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.