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Phillipe Clement mentioned to Phil Hay as potential next Leeds United manager
Phil Hay has name-dropped Phillipe Clement as a potential successor to Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United if he leaves in the summer.
Writing in a Q&A on The Athletic’s website, Hay admitted he has a “hunch” this season will be Bielsa’s final one at Elland Road.
While some names have already been linked with replacing the Argentine, one manager mentioned to The Athletic journalist is Club Brugge’s manager Clement.
“I don’t have a name but I’m told that Leeds knew who they would go for if Bielsa had decided that one season in the Premier League was enough. They had a plan in place if they had to move suddenly,” said Hay.
“One name mentioned to me (but I really am just speculating here) was Phillipe Clement at Club Brugge.
“The one thing we all know is that it’s going to be a massive transition, not just of coaching staff but most likely of players too. And it’s going to be a huge call.”
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Huge decisions
We can already tell what Leeds fans are going to be saying when they see stories about Bielsa potentially leaving.
We don’t want it to happen, we’re not pushing for it to happen.
However, we’d be deluded to not think that Bielsa is probably in the final stages of his time at Elland Road.
Not many know the club better than Hay and if it’s his hunch that this season is Bielsa’s last one in West Yorkshire, then there’s a good chance that could be the case.
Clement is someone who looks good on paper.
He’s led Club Brugge to back-to-back Belgian Jupiler League titles and before that, he won the league with Genk.
Clement will have some knowledge of English football and the Premier League having spent a season with Coventry back in the 1990s during his playing days, when he played as either a defender or defensive midfielder.
Yes, that was a long time ago but it’s more experience in England than Bielsa had before we hired him.
Clement’s career is on an upward trajectory and he seems like a really good manager.
But he’ll have massive boots to fill should he replace Bielsa. It could be an almost impossible task for most managers.
In other Leeds United news, Barcelona may want to sign this £100,000-a-week Leeds star in January.