Leeds United will not be paying Marcelo Bielsa the £153,000-a-week he demanded at Lille if he is to become the new manager at Elland Road, according to journalist Phil Hay.
The revered Yorkshire Evening Post reporter, who is one of the most reliable sources covering the Whites, claims on his personal Twitter account that the club are still in talks with the veteran boss but will not be splashing out the £8million-a-year, which translates to £153,000-a-week, which he was picking up in France before being sacked in 2018.
to give this some context, Bielsa's salary for his last job at Lille was somewhere around £8m. He's a big fish and he'll take some satisfying.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) June 8, 2018
if he comes he won’t be paid that. Will be as highly paid as most, if not all, managers Leeds have had but nothing like £8m
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) June 8, 2018
The Whites are looking for a manager to replace Paul Heckingbottom, who was relieved of his duties at the start of the month, in what will be the third new man in the dugout since Andrea Radrizzani took charge last summer.
Opinion
There is just no way a Championship club with the limited revenue such as Leeds could be affording the £8million-a-year wages Bielsa was on at Lille, and it is likely there will have to be an incentive-based contract if they are to convince him to arrive at Elland Road. As Hay states, the Argentine boss is a big deal in the managerial world of football and his capture would be a real coup, but of course that will come at a cost both contractually and in terms of keeping him happy. There will likely be demands for some significant transfer funds to be made available if he is to take the seat in the dugout and after Radrizzani tried to penny pinch with some cheap foreign signings last summer, the fans will be hoping the Italian promises to give Bielsa, or whoever comes in, the backing they need to be a success.