According to the latest reports from the Daily Mail, Italian heavyweights AS Roma have kept Leeds United’s manager Marcelo Bielsa as the third name on their shortlist to take over the mantle at the club. Roma is currently managed by Claudio Ranieri who took over as a caretaker manager after Eusebio Di Francesco was sacked. Bielsa is only said to be behind Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini and Chelsea’s Maurizio Sarri in the wishlist.
Something like this was always going to be on the cards, and Leeds United will have a few crucial weeks ahead in the transfer market. It is being said that Bielsa will meet with the Leeds United executives at the beginning of next week to discuss his future. There is no doubt that Leeds United would try everything in their means to keep him at Elland Road after the Argentine manager brought the Whites on the cusp of promotion only to falter in the last few weeks of the season.
However, with the squad which United had, the season should be considered as a success given that they finished 13th in the 2017-18 campaign. Bielsa didn’t manage to make many signings in the two transfer windows he got and the players who were considered to be not good enough just a year back almost brought the club back to the Premier League via the direct promotion spots.
Why does the board need to back the Argentine?
The board will need to back the manager heavily in his decision making and the transfer market. Bielsa has shown in the past that if things didn’t go his way, he would be willing to step down from the role of a manager. Case in point – The Argentine was the Lazio manager for less than a week as his talks with the board had broken down and promises were not kept.
The 63-year-old manager is the best thing to have happened to the club in the last decade, and the Yorkshire outfit cannot afford to lose him after just one year. United played a fantastic high-intensity brand of football, which caught the imagination of everyone.
Can the Whites keep him?
Most importantly, his trust in the youngsters and academy has allowed the club to unearth some special talents. He has been willing to throw the youngsters into crucial games, and everyone unanimously agrees that he has improved them in just a year.
There is no better time to be a youngster at Elland Road as the manager is willing to give everyone a chance. Roma are a club to worry about, but if United play their card rights, they should be able to keep hold of their saviour.
