Whelan: Bielsa is wrong – Leeds must bin Casilla for good and this is why

Leeds United cannot afford to have the shadow of Kiko Casilla’s racism row hanging over them – he must be forced out in the summer. 

That is according to ex-Leeds forward and boyhood fan Noel Whelan, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the Mirror reported that Marcelo Bielsa is in “no hurry” to bin the 34-year-old goalkeeper.

The Spaniard was banned for eight matches and fined £60,000 for racially abusing Charlton Athletic’s Jonathan Leko in Leeds’ promotion-winning season.

He has since been usurped in the Leeds starting XI by Illan Meslier.

The 21-year-old has started all but one of Leeds’ 34 Premier League matches in 2020-21.

Whelan urged Bielsa to reconsider former Real Madrid man Casilla’s future at the club.

He told Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs: “I said last year it was time for him to go. We’ve got to take the unwanted spotlight off Leeds United.

“The only way to do that is to take away the players that bring it upon us. He’s a player that has brought it on us ever since the racism accusations and the disciplinary actions by the FA.

“That’s never gonna go away. It’s always going to raise its ugly head whenever he has a bad game, which he did earlier this season in the cup game.

“It is unfortunate but it’s just the way it is. I still think he stands by that he didn’t do it. But the fact is it’s still there.

“It’s not just that, it’s his performances he made when he was number one. Some of those performances stay in people’s minds.

“You consider that next to the racism, which as a club we’re strongly against. It makes it very difficult for him to stay at the club.

In other news, Leeds plot striker signing with £25million set aside.