With dreams of a long-awaited return to the Premier League evaporating in agonising fashion in both the battle for the automatic promotion places and the play-offs, there hasn't been much to smile about at Leeds United recently.

The mood may have been boosted somewhat by recent reports from the Yorkshire Evening Post that sources close to influential manager Marcelo Bielsa are confident that the much-discussed future of the Argentine lies at Elland Road, ahead of further talks with the club about his future.

Even that, however, may now have been tempered by recent reports from Football Insider that Swedish defender Pontus Jansson could be on his way out of Elland Road, due to the fact that he does not get on with Bielsa.

It is something that may now face Leeds into a difficult decision, but one that will surely only have one outcome once they have made it.

The changes that Bielsa has made since coming into Leeds have been remarkable, and it is unlikely that any other manager would be able to replicate his approach and mentality that has served Leeds so well this season, and taken them so close to a return to the Premier League. You feel therefore that Leeds must do all they can to keep Bielsa around next season, even if it means saying goodbye to one of their most popular players.

Jansson has been a magnificent asset to Leeds during his three years at the club, with his partnership with Liam Cooper proving crucial to the Elland Road side's success this season, while his own passion for the club was made perfectly clear by his reaction to allowing Villa to score an uncontested equaliser in that controversial 1-1 draw on the penultimate day of the season.

It will therefore not be easy to allow such a popular and influential player to leave, but Leeds must do what is right for them as a club, and that surely means keeping Bielsa around to get them back to the Premier League.

There is perhaps no truer saying in football than "no one player is bigger than the club", and Leeds may now need to remember that as they look to secure the services of the man many feel is the one to take them back to the Premier League. Even if it means saying goodbye to someone who has already given them so much.