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Northern Ireland international keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell came back early to try and win his job as the starting keeper at Leeds back from former Real Madrid keeper Kiko Casilla. After the meltdown in the second leg of the semifinal against Derby County, has Peacock-Farrell got a chance to actually do it?
| "The race starts now" @bailey_pf chats about returning to training early, and fighting for the number one spot
— Leeds United (@LUFC) June 26, 2019
Peacock-Farrell said that he wants to fight for the number one spot, but can he actually pull it off? Peacock-Farrell looked really shaky during the first half of the season, so much so that if Chelsea loanee Jamal Blackman hadn’t gotten hurt, Peacock-Farrell would have been benched early in the season. Leeds even went and bought out an extremely expensive contract to sign Casilla from Real Madrid to replace him.
Now, Casilla had his moments of madness, but otherwise was a pretty decent keeper, and he can play with the ball at his feet, although sometimes you wish he wouldn’t actually try to be a footballer and just kick the damn ball into the stands.
Peacock-Farrell has a pretty tough road ahead of him to be the starting keeper this season, so don’t be surprised if he’s loaned somewhere if he fails to win the job, and if he does win it, then expect Casilla to head back to Spain.
On to the links.
Leeds United Links
Which players are reportedly on Leeds’ summer transfer window shopping list? [Through It All Together]
It looks like Jack Clarke’s move to Tottenham Hotspur is all set. [Through It All Together]
England and English Football Links
Mesut Ozil has an absolute albatross of a contract. [The Short Fuse]
World Football Links
Rumors say that Federico Chiesa wants out of Fiorentina, but don’t believe (all of) the hype. [Viola Nation]
Empoli have confirmed that Fiorentina are interested in midfielder Ismaël Bennacer. [Viola Nation]
Kostas Manolas to Napoli from AS Roma appears to be a done deal. [Chiesa di Totti]
Steven Nzonzi is AWOL from Roma’s training camp, meaning he’s probably pushing for a transfer. [Chiesa di Totti]
Nigeria beat Guinea and have advanced the last 16 of AFCON. [BBC.com]
Barcelona keeper Jasper Cillessen has left for Valencia, with €35 million heading the other way. [Barca Blaugranes]