Earlier this week, a rather unlikely story appeared in El Desmarque in Spain claiming that Real Betis had made contact with Marcelo Bielsa, currently at Leeds United.
Not only that, but the article explained the Elland Road manager wanted to ‘leave England’ in order to go back to the ‘front page’, with Spain a good destination to do so.
It helps that his contract with the Championship club ends at the end of the season, which would allow him to be signed on a free by any interested clubs if he doesn’t renew with Leeds.
A couple of days later, and the story is still being talked about in Spain, as Estadio Deportivo explain what the plans are at the La Liga club, using a big picture of Bielsa to illustrate their article.
For now, they are happy to let Rubi, their current manager, finish the season as long as the team remains competitive.
Those in charge don’t want to make a rash decision, as they know they will have more choice in the summer when more options could become available.
What they do know is that, having already invested heavily in the squad, the manager appears to be the issue, and Estadio Deportivo claim the ‘great signing’ for the 2020-21 season will be a new manager, with an ‘important budget’ allocated for it.
Managing to snap up someone like Marcelo Bielsa would certainly fall into that category, as the former Argentina national team coach has managed to rebuild his reputation at Leeds after a difficult time at Lille in Ligue 1.
He also wouldn’t have to do a lot of adapting, having managed in Spain and La Liga before with Espanyol (albeit very briefly) and Athletic Bilbao.
It all makes sense on paper, but we are yet to see anything other than El Desmarque’s claims on the matter, so until we do, we will remain somewhat skeptical about all this.
