TV pundit and ex-Leeds United footballer Carlton Palmer has claimed the club have not yet offered current manager Marcelo Bielsa a new contract – and that Marcelo Bielsa is keen on confirmation that he will get more funds to improve the side.
Bielsa took over at Leeds four years ago and has transformed them into a Premier League side, however, a new deal for the Argentine has yet to be put on the table by the Leeds owners.
Palmer told GiveMeSport that if a contract was to be offered to Bielsa, then he would ‘consider it very carefully’ before signing it.
“Bielsa has made it quite clear. He said that he is very happy living in England, his family’s very happy living in England, and if the club made him a new offer, then he would consider it very carefully,” Palmer said.
It is understood that if Bielsa was to sign a new deal at Elland Road, then he would need sufficient funds to ‘take the club forward’.
Palmer added: “So, as I understand it, the club haven’t made him an offer yet, and he said he will consider it. So again, when you hear that, reading between the lines, it’s whether they can give him the type of money that he needs to take the club forward.”
TIF Thoughts on the Marcelo Bielsa contract saga…
Bielsa has turned Leeds into a Premier League side that until this campaign, had not been flirting in and around the relegation zone, having achieved a top-half finish last campaign.
Therefore, it is bizarre that a deal has not already been put on the table for him to sign. But if Palmer is correct, this could be down to the money issues that Bielsa has apparently insisted he would need more funds to continue to progress with the team.
At the moment, as was evident in the recent transfer window, he has not been supplied with the financial backing that his competitors have in order to sign the correct players.
Therefore, Leeds may opt to look elsewhere for a manager who is happy with a smaller budget that the Whites board can offer.