Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear has provided an update on Marcelo Bielsa and his contract situation at the club.
To say that Bielsa has had a huge impact on the club since he arrived in the summer of 2018 would certainly be something of an understatement. Not only has he transformed them on the pitch, but the relationship that he has built up with the Leeds fans is arguably one of the greatest in world football today, helped immeasurably by their return to the Premier League after 16 years away.
Is Marcelo Bielsa the best manager in the Premier League?
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And it would appear as though those good times will continue to carry on at Elland Road, as speaking on The Square Ball podcast, Kinnear confirmed that Bielsa was in a position to sign a new contract at the club, and revealed that the majority of it had actually been sorted out long before this summer:
“It’ll be signed this week and announced to great excitement.
“To be honest, it’s not even discussed. The discussions are all around preparation, it really is – it really is a formality. As I said, I think I’ve said before on your show that we had a handshake probably six months ago, and it really is just the details.
“Every day, he’s talking to Victor [Orta] to Andrea [Radrizzani], to myself, but it’s all about the preparations.”
TIF Thoughts on Angus Kinnear’s comments about Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United…
After the brilliant groundwork that Bielsa has laid at the club over the past three seasons, it does seem a bit of a no-brainer that he would get a new contract, the only question is how long the contract will be and how long can he keep it going?
It’s very rare to see managers do a long stint at a club these days like Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger had at Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, and whilst this has been his longest spell with a team in terms of games, at the age of 66, he’s certainly no spring chicken.
But if the work he’s done in previous years is anything to go by, then whenever that day does come that he leaves, then at least he’ll be able to leave them in a much better place than we he took them over, after they had just finished 13th in the Championship.
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