In After Foot, Christophe Lollichon, former Chelsea goalkeeper coach, gave his favorites to replace Hugo Lloris in the cages of the France team. And if he quotes Mike Maignan or Brice Samba, he especially has in mind Illan Meslier, the young porter from Leeds.
Asked about the successor to Hugo Lloris in the tricolor goals in After Foot on RMC, Christophe Lollichon, former Chelsea goalkeeper coach, gave his opinion. Obviously referring to Mike Maignan, he also has other proposals: Brice Samba, from RC Lens, or Illan Meslier, from Leeds United.
Mike Maignan, Brice Samba and Illan Meslier
“I really appreciate the qualities of Mike Maignan, because if he is appreciated in Italy it is precisely because he is a different goalkeeper from the others. And there you have around Mike Maignan, boys like Brice Samba by example. Or Illan Meslier. It’s been almost three years since he started in the Premier League”, he underlines.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper trained at FC Lorient, and who left Brittany in the summer of 2019 for Marcelo Bielsa’s team, is also one of the darlings of the former Blues coach: “It’s not far from being my future number 1 with the Blues, he has so many qualities.”
“I wanted to bring him to Chelsea”
“I discovered this kid with Regis Le Bris, when he was reserve coach in Lorient, he continues. I followed him for two years, I wanted to bring him to Chelsea. I saw Illan was with the reserve in N2 and I saw a central defender in front of me. I took a step to see him play. Illan loves this style of play.
He insists he really insisted on bringing him back to Chelsea, but that coaching changes had thwarted his plans. “Illan met my height criteria because he was 1.96m tall, plus he has an amazing left foot, wingspan, very good in one-on-ones and very good in aerial play.” With already 108 games on the clock in the Peacocks jersey, he could therefore make his way to the France team. To occupy what place in the hierarchy?
