Double-page spread in newspaper says Marcelo Bielsa at ‘beginning of the end’ at Leeds United
Marcelo Bielsa is at the “beginning of the end” of his time at Leeds United, according to The Sunday Mirror.
The newspaper reported in a double-page spread on 20 February [pages 70 and 71] that the Argentine is “set to walk away from Leeds in the summer”.
It is understood that fears have grown behind the scenes at Elland Road that Bielsa has taken the Yorkshire giants as far as he can ahead of his contract expiring at the end of the season.
The Sunday Mirror adds that Leeds have already started looking into potential replacements for Bielsa, who took the Whites back to the Premier League and secured a ninth-placed finish last season.
As for Andrea Radrizzani, he reportedly knows that Bielsa is not a manager who stays for too long at clubs having already spent more time at Leeds than he has done anywhere else in his managerial career.
Speculation heating up
Leeds fans won’t want to hear it but there are increasing noises about Bielsa possibly calling it a day at Elland Road when this season is over.
It’s understandable.
While he only ever signs one-year contracts at a time, his deal still expires in the summer and for the first time in his reign at Elland Road, Leeds are set to finish lower than they did the season before.
Of course, last season was always going to be a hard act to follow but the efforts to build on it were minimal.
Daniel James was a big signing who wasn’t entirely necessary when Leeds so desperately needed central midfield additions.
He’s done okay at Elland Road, but that’s about it.
As for Junior Firpo, he was the only other big addition and he’s been injury prone and not really shown himself to be an improvement upon the more versatile Ezgjan Alioski.
We wouldn’t be shocked if Bielsa leaves but we would be absolutely gutted.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay says this low-earning Leeds player cannot force his way out of the club in the summer.