Leeds goalkeeper Kiko Casilla will join Elche on loan this summer as he seeks regular first-team football at the end of his career.
The 34-year-old joined the Elland Road side from Real Madrid in January 2019 and was constantly present between the sticks for almost a year before he was hit by an eight-pointer for abusing Charlton’s Jonathan Leko.
Marcelo Bielsa defended his then number one and made him captain when he returned to the side, arguing that the very critical media did not have ‘all the information’ that he and the players did about the incident.
But despite his general defense of the Spaniard, he has only played seven for the club during the year, with 21-year-old goalkeeper Illan Meslier surpassing him as Leeds’ number one.
The Mirror reports that Casilla is still a popular figure in Leeds’ locker room despite the controversy earlier during his time on Elland Road. But it is claimed that Casilla is not happy to sit and play the second violin and is close to agreeing on a season-long loan back to Spain, where he hopes to become Elche’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Although they have been found guilty of racism, Leeds and Bielsa have firmly denied any guilt on Casilla’s part. Leeds released a statement at the time claiming the decision was made on “balance of probabilities” rather than indisputable evidence, while Bielsa has said several times that he still believes in the 34-year-old despite the incident.
After Casilla’s heavily criticized performance against Crawley in the FA Cup last season, Bielsa said: “People also do not think about how he has been treated in public given the situation he had to go through when he was suspended for eight matches.
How extravagant football is !! #cleansheet # K13 pic.twitter.com/AzzXaAfhJa
– Kiko Casilla 13 (@ KikoCasilla13) May 18, 2021
“I believe in him, his teammates believe in him and we are close to him because we value him as a person and a football player.
“We accept what people think of him in the media or people, but we know his past and we know his relationship and we care a lot about him as a human being.”
