Negotiations with Marcelo Bielsa are still ongoing for the vacant Leeds job, according to Phil Hay.

Leeds opted to sack Paul Heckingbottom after a disappointing spell which saw them finish in 13th place, although he never had a chance to make his mark on the squad by bringing in his own transfer targets.

Marcelo Bielsa is the favourite to replace him with talks ongoing for a while. The 62-year-old has experience in South America, North America and Europe as a manager. However, his latest spell with Lille was a huge disappointment as the club gave him significant backing, but he was suspended in November with the club second from bottom and was eventually sacked in December.

The Verdict

Bielsa has had a major impact on modern football through his ideas which have been used and adapted by managers such as Jorge Sampaoli and Pep Guardiola to produce stunning results. However, he has never been able to translate his ideas into silverware outside of Europe as a manager.

The Championship may be a step lower than he is used to, but the flaws of his approach are still the same. His intense, high pressing approach causes players to be severely tired by the latter stages of the season, which naturally impacts results. Therefore, in a gruelling campaign such as the Championship he is likely to start strongly, but fall off the pace due to injuries and fatigue.

This would be an ambitious appointment by the owners, but also one full of risk with automatic promotion being their only chance because the players won't have the energy to bring his ideas to life in the play-offs. They would need to back him fully for any chance of success, which would mean significant overhaul.