Rayo Vallecano know they will struggle to keep Andoni Iraola next season after great Leeds United offer
Rayo Vallecano know that it will be “very difficult” to get Andoni Iraola to sign a new contract for next season after already receiving a “great offer” from Leeds United, Union Rayo reports.
The Spaniard is a key target for the Whites to take the currently-vacant full-time manager’s position, but has proven to be out of reach for now with his club blocking a move.
But with the 40-year-old’s contract expiring in the summer and the Premier League side likely to make another attempt to appoint him then [Daily Mail, 14 February], there appears to be an acknowledgement in Spain that he will be difficult to keep hold of.
Director of football David Cobeño wants Iraola to stay for another year but according to Union Rayo the club know that it will be tough to keep him past the expiry of his current contract on the June 30, with the coach having already received a “great offer” from Leeds United.
Destined?
It certainly looks like both sides of this potential union have an eye on this coming together in the summer, with Iraola thought to be open to the approach from the Whites but unwilling to burn his bridges in Madrid to force it now.
The danger is obviously that relegation can’t be avoided in the mean time, because taking over a Championship club is very different to taking over a Premier League club.
Michael Skubala has been left in interim charge for now, and he has shown some reasonable signs in his two games against Manchester United, but this is clearly not what anyone envisaged as a succession plan from Jesse Marsch.
None of the hoped-for long-term targets are available currently and that has already sparked the club to come worryingly close to appointing Alfred Schreuder.
Having got to this point the hierarchy should probably reassess and decide on the best short-term option to stay up over the next four months, and then deal with the issue properly in the summer.
Making the change at the time they did suggested they had a plan in place to make a quick switch, but that has proven to be far from the truth.
The season has already proven to be a write-off, and survival is the only real priority now, but getting the wrong manager in and letting them continue for next season could easily see the club in the same position again a year from now.
Premier League survival must be assured, and then Iraola could yet be the man in the summer.
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