Leeds United relief as Marcelo Bielsa contract terms update shared by Phil Hay
Leeds United fans and board members alike will be breathing a sigh of relief with Marcelo Bielsa on the brink of becoming Uruguay manager, as he finalises the terms of his contract.
The former Whites boss has been out of work since he was sacked at Elland Road on 27 February last season, as the club hurtled towards a relegation battle, and despite rumours of a dramatic return increasing of late that appears to have been wishful thinking.
Numerous figures have come and gone since, with millions spent, and Leeds United are in exactly the same position, making the decision to part ways feel particularly painful for the supporters, many of whom would have preferred to be relegated a year ago under the Argentine than limp on for a further year and go down now.
In that context it would have been all the more of a sickener for the Whites fanbase if the 67-year-old had taken another job in the Premier League, which he reportedly would like [The Phil Hay Show, 12 May, 19m 40s], after approaches from Bournemouth and then Everton since he left West Yorkshire.
Now, Phil Hay has shared an update via Twitter that says “everything is virtually in place” for Bielsa to take over as Uruguay boss, with his return to coaching “on the cards”.
In the accompanying story in The Athletic by Hay and Felipe Cardenas it says: “A deal is not yet done but Bielsa is finalising terms to replace Diego Alonso, whose contract expired after Uruguay’s group-stage exit the 2022 World Cup.”
While there have been a number of close links since his Leeds United exit, with interest anything but short in supply, this looks to be much more serious, with The Times furthermore sharing quotes from Jorge Caselas of the Uruguayan FA, who said: “The only thing missing is the signature… We are bringing in someone who we know will leave us a legacy that goes beyond the 90 minutes of a match”.
Bielsa finding his way back into work as an international manager on the other side of the world is just about the ideal outcome from a Whites perspective, aside from a triumphant return to his former role.
Seeing their former hero in the opposition dug-out in the Premier League would have been the last thing the club’s fans would want to see when there has been so little to enjoy since he left, and if he was successful it would have made the Elland Road hierarchy look all the worse as one manager after another struggle at Leeds.
It may be the case that Bielsa would not have remained at the club in the summer even if he hadn’t been sacked, but either way the succession plan that Victor Orta had hand-picked in Jesse Marsch ultimately didn’t go far, and while the Spaniard is also now gone, Andrea Radrizzani has to carry the can for presiding over a regime that has managed to jettison Bielsa, Marsch, Orta and Javi Gracia in a year and a half to still be staring down relegation.
It may be too late to avoid that fate with Sam Allardyce having just three games to rescue a perilous situation, and the owner’s long-agreed 49ers takeover deal under threat as a result.
But at least for the fans they won’t have to worry about Bielsa swooping back into the Premier League when they aren’t even there themselves, and Radrizzani, Angus Kinnear and company won’t have to watch the one that got away reminding what they let get away – for now at least.
In other Leeds United news, a new signing has been secured in the face of competition from elsewhere.