Released from his contract by Leeds United towards the end of February, Marcelo Bielsa has yet to find himself a new club.
The Argentine built a great reputation at Elland Road during his time as manager there, helping the Whites return to the Premier League following many years of languishing in the Championship.
He then kept Leeds up in style during their first campaign, but the second proved difficult, which is why he was relieved of his duties and replaced by Jesse Marsch.
Since then, the manager has been linked with many roles, but few have appeared as concrete as a potential return to Athletic Bilbao.
Before his time at Leeds, Bielsa had spent two years in charge of the La Liga side between 2011 and 2013, even taking them to the Europa League Final in 2012.
It’s those types of successes and memories that mean Athletic Bilbao, currently on the verge of their presidency elections, could change manager and re-appoint the former Chile head coach.
This comes from El Correo, who, putting together bits and bobs of information, explain that ‘he will return to manager Athletic if Iñaki Arechabaleta wins the elections’.
The decision on the new president comes on June 24th, and while neither the man himself or his number two, Iñaki Goirizelaia, have actively said they want the ex-Leeds manager, they have strongly hinted at it.
Arechabaleta praised Bielsa on TeleBilbao a few days ago, recalling that he gave them ‘the best season of this century’, as well as ‘moments of glory’.
Then came Goirizelaia, who would be vice-president should the other Iñaki win the elections, who said: “We have a manager who I think is the most attractive in the social mass.”
He then added: “We have an idea of intense football, of fighting to the end, of playing beautifully… And I think this is a manager who will be able to carry it forward. The manager we going to choose is a different one, and one the fans want.”
That leaves little to the imagination, and El Correo are certain he means Bielsa.
Just to back that up, one of their journalists, J. Ortiz de Lazcano, took to Twitter, linking the above article, saying: “Watch out for this. The first name for the bench.”
Ojo a esto. Primer nombre para el banquillo https://t.co/nKFconF9rv
— J. Ortiz de Lazcano (@jortizdelazcano) June 15, 2022
Maybe this is what Bielsa has been waiting for all this time since his Leeds exit, and all that needs to happen is for Arechabaleta to win the elections…
