Phil Hay has been speaking on the latest edition of The Athletic’s The Phil Hay Show and he has been talking about all things relating to Leeds United.
One of the topics that he spent some time on was the future of Marcelo Bielsa with the Argentinian’s contract set to run out at the end of the season.
Bielsa only just signed a new deal with the Whites but it was only a year extension, and here we are in October and the talk on Bielsa’s future has re-emerged.
It seems as if Leeds are not going to get carried away and believe that Bielsa will be at Elland Road for a while and that at the moment, they are just expecting him to fulfil the last year of his contract.
He said: “I don’t think Leeds would ever count on him being here for longer than the 12 months that he’s signed up for, they would have said that at the start of the first season [Bielsa was in charge for].
“They would have been more confident I think last summer that they would have got a second year from him had they been promoted, but certainly wouldn’t have counted on a third year in the Championship.
“I think even now; they would feel like they were presumptuous if they were to say that this was going to be a long-term thing with him regardless of how it goes this season.”
Do you think this will be Bielsa's last season at Leeds?
No, he will stay for at least another one
Yes, he will go
TIF Thoughts…
Bielsa arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2018, and he signed a two-year deal; then, there was talk that he would leave if Leeds failed to get promoted.
So, when the Whites lost to Derby County in the play-offs Bielsa could have left but, instead, he triggered an extension, and then just last month, he signed another one-year deal.
However, you could argue that it is wise for the Whites to not bank on Bielsa being at Elland Road next season, and it seems as if they are unsure how much longer Bielsa will stay with Leeds.
It will be intriguing to see how the Whites do this season and then what Bielsa decides to do next summer when his deal expires.