Leeds assistant manager Pep Clotet is on the club’s shortlist of candidates to replace Garry Monk, according to Spanish newspaper Sport.
The publication from Clotet’s native Spain claims the 40-year-old is a genuine rival for the newly-vacated post to early frontrunner Aitor Karanka.
Sport report that Spanish duo Clotet and Karanka will be considered by sole owner Andrea Radrizzani as he assesses the candidates to take over ahead of next season.
Monk resigned as manager on Thursday after failing to reach an agreement with Radrizzani over a contract extension and the plans for the summer transfer window.
Clotet’s name on the shortlist will delight Leeds fans, given the huge number of them on social media who have urged the club to promote Monk’s former number two into the hot seat.
Clotet’s popularity is due to the fact that he was seen as providing wise counsel to Monk, 38, both during Leeds’ promotion-chasing campaign and when they were in tandem at Premier League outfit Swansea.
The Yorkshire giants challenged strongly for promotion against the odds following shrewd recruitment last summer and excellent work on the training ground with players who had been in the team that limped to finishes of between 13th and 15th in the previous five seasons.
But a final-month collapse meant that Leeds ended the campaign in seventh, one place and five points adrift of the play-offs.