Leeds United’s managing director Angus Kinnear jetted out to Argentina last week with Marcelo Bielsa the front runner for the newly available manager’s job, according to BBC reporter Adam Pope.
The sports broadcaster, who is a reliable journalist covering events at Elland Road, states on his personal Twitter account that the Whites are wanting to appoint a new man quickly after sacking Paul Heckingbottom after just four months in charge, and that Argentine boss Bielsa is at the front of the queue.
The club not revealing too much about the criteria for a new head coach other than wanting a swift appointment. Marcelo Bielsa’s name is the one leading the way & I was told last night that #lufc M.D. Angus Kinnear was in Argentina last week.
— Adam Pope (@apopey) June 1, 2018
It is stated that Kinnear, who took over as managing director in May 2017, jetted off on a long haul mission to Argentina, with Bielsa currently out of work after being axed from the Lille job in 2017.
Opinion
Argentina seems a funny destination for a summer holiday, so it can be assumed that Kinnear was out there on business. It seems as though Leeds may well have had Bielsa in their sights for some time and that they got the ball rolling on bringing him in before even sacking Heckingbottom. It could be that the meeting was positive and that it was these talks which were the catalyst for Andrea Radrizzani to pull the trigger and bring an abrupt end to the former Barnsley man’s career at Elland Road. Still, nothing, other than Heckingbottom’s exit, is set in stone, and now Leeds have to get the deal done and bring in a new boss sooner rather than later in preparation for pre-season, including the summer transfer window. It promises to be a summer of much change at the Whites, although the same could have been said about 12 months ago, and that did not have the desired effect.