Newly-appointed Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has hinted that he has a rough idea of who he wants to keep in his squad this summer as he prepares to take charge of the Championship club.
Speaking in his first press conference since being named as Leeds manager, Bielsa was asked to offer his thoughts on the current playing squad that he has inherited at Elland Road.
And after watching all of the Whites’ fixtures last season, he has decided that he does not want any fringe players on the books for next season and only those who are assured first team football.
“We’re trying to keep players who we can promise plenty of game time. I’ve seen all 51 games that Leeds United played last season so I’ve got opinions in my head about all the players – but I’ve not had that day-to-day contact with them,” said Bielsa, as quoted by Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Phil Hay on his personal Twitter account on Monday.
Bielsa on which players won't be staying: "We're trying to keep players who we can promise plenty of game time. I've seen all 51 games that Leeds United played last season so I've got opinions in my head about all the players – but I've not had that day-to-day contact with them."
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) June 25, 2018
OPINION
Leeds fans will be first to start telling Bielsa which players should be offloaded this summer after a dreadful Championship campaign last time out that saw them blow a shot at the play-offs to finish mid-table. A lot of that was down to the poor job that Victor Orta and Thomas Christiansen did last summer when they overhauled the squad that was inherited from Garry Monk. Too many players were signed up that were nowhere near good enough and have since been rotting on the sidelines or shipped out on loan. Some of Orta’s flops include the likes of Vurnon Anita, Pawel Cibicki, Jay-Roy Grot and Ouasim Bouy – who has not even made an appearance for the Whites since signing. Leeds can free up their wagebill by getting rid of these kinds of players and Orta appears to have already started with Felix Wiedwald returning to Germany. Bielsa looks as though he has a good grasp on the squad already and will have an idea of who he wants gone.