Rayo Vallecano defender Florian Lejeune is delighted to see Andoni Iraola stay at the La Liga outfit despite interest from Premier League relegation battlers Leeds United, speaking to Marca.
A winless run of four games might have drawn a line under any lingering Champions League ambitions – Rayo dropping more points at home to Athletic Bilbao last time out – but European qualification is still a distinct possibility.
Rayo are seventh, but still within touching distance of Real Betis in sixth.
Such a remarkable campaign would not have been possible without the ‘incredible’ tactical awareness and man-management prowess of Iraola; one of the most exciting young coaches in European football.
Iraola rejected Leeds in order to stay and finish the season at Rayo last month; the Yorkshire giants appointing Javi Gracia on a short-term deal instead. The Athletic, however, believe that Leeds could return for the 40-year-old Spaniard come the summer, a man who played under Marcelo Bielsa at Athletic and the one Leeds, the report says, ‘really wanted’.
Leeds United could still return for Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola
“There was talk about that about the coach,” says Lejeune, the former Newcastle defender now playing some of the best football of his career in Vallecas.
“But I honestly don’t know if it was true or not. The most important thing is that he himself is now with us.”
Spanish football expert Terry Gibson, meanwhile, believes that Iraola is better off staying put for the time being and weighing up his options in the off-season. By then, we will know which division Leeds are set to find themselves in come 2023/24.
“I can understand both sides. Iraola, he’s going to quadruple, quintuple his salary probably, by going to Leeds. But he also has to look and think, someday, that will happen anyway, whether it’s the Premier League or a bigger, richer club in La Liga. And the time to do that (consider your future) is in the summer,” Gibson says on El Tel and Jon’s La Liga weekly podcast.
“You’ve got to know the right time. And probably, for Iraola, now isn’t the right time.
‘Is now the right time?’
“There’s no doubt he’s a successful, young manager who is going to have a fine career,” Gibson adds. “Is now the right time to move to a team who are in a relegation fight, in a league you don’t know particularly well?
“It’s like Gary Neville coming to Valencia. Iraola coming to Leeds; he won’t know his own players, he won’t know the opposition. That’s not ideal.
“And then you find yourself relegated, despite the fact it’s Leeds and it’s a massive club. Your reputation takes a hit and you don’t know about the patience of the owners. They might think; ‘He took us down. Sack him!’”
“It probably is best at the moment to stay put at Rayo Vallecano.”
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