It's safe to say that Marcelo Bielsa has made quite the impact since he was appointed as Leeds United's manager back in the summer of 2018. 

The Whites are now sat top of the Championship table, and will be hoping they can hold their nerve in the race for a long-awaited promotion back into the Premier League.

Bielsa has recently been praised by Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, with the Frenchman revealing that both Pep Guardiola and the Leeds boss as two of the best managers in world football at this moment in time.

Laporte worked for Bielsa whilst the pair were at Athletic Bilbao in 2012, and clearly still rates the Leeds boss highly for the impact he has made in his managerial career.

Speaking in an interview with Football Insider, former Leeds man Noel Whelan labelled the prospect of Bielsa coming up against Guradiola in the opposite dugout in the Premier League as 'brilliant'.

"It would be brilliant. You can see what Marcelo Bielsa has done and the respect he commands from Pep Guardiola.

"He has turned the fortunes of players around in this squad. It is pretty much the same squad that two other managers have had before but the football that is played and the way he has changed people’s attitudes towards the club is remarkable. Bielsa has made them a top team within two years."

Whelan went on to admit that Leeds made the right call in appointing Bielsa in the first place, and praised the Whites boss for the impact that he has made with the Yorkshire-based club to date.

"It is the same batch of players but he has educated them on position, intensity, work rate and attitude. He has brought all of that into not just the first team but the under-23s.

"It is worth paying the money for a very good manager and his backroom staff. The talent is there, it just needs to be brought out."

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The Verdict: 

What an impact he has made with Leeds.

Bielsa inherited a group of players that had previously struggled in the Championship, so it's a credit to the Leeds boss for the style of play that he has brought to the club.

I think Leeds are destined to win promotion into the Premier League this season, and I can't see recent off-the-field events impacting their positive run of results.

The prospect of Bielsa managing the Yorkshire-based club in the top-flight is an exciting prospect, especially if he's to be given financial backing.