Leeds United now in secret talks as club look to appoint their next manager
Leeds United are yet to appoint their new manager but they are considering two or three managerial candidates after talks to appoint Alfred Schreuder have collapsed, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
The Guardian journalist reported on Caught Offside (14 February) that the Whites want to keep their managerial hunt a “secret”, and they have now entered key stages in appointing their next manager.
Steven Gerrard has been linked with the vacant managerial job at Elland Road, but Romano has refused to shed light on it.
“Leeds have two or three managerial candidates still being considered after they decided to make the Alfred Schreuder talks collapse,” wrote Romano for Caught Offside.
“They want to keep it secret as conversations now enter into key stages. I can’t comment on Leeds links with Steven Gerrard for now, but I can say he was never that close to taking the Poland national team job; he had some initial talks but his priority is a club more than a national team and they decided to go for Fernando Santos instead.”
Tough
It is getting increasingly tough for the Whites to appoint their next manager following the sacking of Jesse Marsch.
The club probably couldn’t have anticipated this problem. After Marcelo Bielsa was sacked, they were quick to replace him with Marsch, but now they are really struggling to get the right candidate in place.
The Whites have failed in their approach to land the likes of Arne Slot and Andoni Iraola, while Marcelo Gallardo, the former manager of River Plate has also ruled himself out for this job.
Carlos Corberan was another manager who was being considered but he chose to stay with West Bromwich Albion instead. It looks like, Leeds are running out of options at the moment, and they have to be satisfied with their fifth or sixth-choice targets.
Can Gerrard be an option? Well, Gerrard did really well at Rangers, but he failed horribly at Aston Villa. Leeds will take a big gamble if they appoint him, so they have to look for other options.
The caretaker boss, Michael Skubala, has looked promising, and he could be in charge for the rest of the season as well if Leeds continue to fail to attract top names.
In other Leeds United news, click here to see breaking, around-the-clock updates on Leeds’ search for a new manager in our interactive live blog.
Be sure to follow MOT Leeds News on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest, breaking news from Elland Road.