Leeds United turned down the chance to sign former Tottenham midfielder Marcus Edwards over the summer, according to Football Insider.
The 20-year-old left his boyhood club for Portuguese side Vitoria SC in the latter stages of the transfer window, but it is understood that he was offered to the Championship club first as part of the deal that took Jack Clarke to London.
But the report claims that Marcelo Bielsa knocked back the player, who was once compared to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino, as he preferred a straight cash deal for Clarke.
Did Bielsa make the right choice?
In all honestly, the answer is probably yes.
Edwards is a supremely talented player, and there’s no doubt that he has the potential to kick on and become a top drawer performer.
But as it stands, he is a long way off reaching his full potential, and Bielsa will have been fully aware of that.
Edwards’ only experience of English football has been limited to one League Cup appearance for Tottenham and a disastrous loan spell at Norwich City, during which he managed just six minutes and was sent back to his parent club early.
The fact that Pochettino wasn’t willing to take a gamble on him could well have been a red flag for Bielsa too.
The two Argentines have a very strong and respectful relationship, and if Pochettino wasn’t sure of Edwards’ credentials, you can bet that Bielsa was wary too.
The counter argument is, of course, that Edwards looked to be turning a corner last season.
On loan in the Netherlands with Excelsior, he actually started to look a little more like the dangerous playmaker that it was widely believed he could be.
Last term he averaged 1.4 shots, 1.1 key passes, and 3.3 successful dribbles per game, as per Whoscored.
The standard of the Dutch league is obviously lower than the upper reaches of the English game, but was this a sign that Edwards was finally beginning to bloom into the Mini Messi that Pochettino raved about back in 2016 [Mirror]?
Perhaps, perhaps not, but Bielsa cannot afford to be taking that kind of risk on a relatively unknown entity when he so much at stake at Elland Road this season.