Leeds managerial candidate Aitor Karanka expressed in 2016 what surprised him about Whites

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Aitor Karanka has been linked with the Leeds United job following Garry Monk’s departure.

Aitor Karanka is in contention for the Leeds job

According to the Daily Mirror, Aitor Karanka is one of the candidates that Leeds are considering as they look to replace Garry Monk following his shock resignation on Thursday.

And judging by some comments he made in 2016, as reported in the Yorkshire Evening Post, the Spaniard would, somewhat by accident, arguably have a very good idea about the level of expectation at Elland Road if he was to be given the job.

The Leeds post is available following Garry Monk’s departure

Karanka was part of the Real Madrid side that beat Leeds 3-2 at the Bernabeu in a Champions League clash back in 2001, and only faced them again after being given the Middlesbrough job in 2013.

He suggested that he did not realise that Leeds were a Championship outfit when he arrived at the Riverside Stadium, having faced them in Europe’s premier competition just over a decade beforehand.

Karanka faced Leeds in 2001 as a Real Madrid player

“On the day (when Karanka met Leeds as Boro boss for the first time in 2013) it was a surprise as the last time I’d faced Leeds was in the Champions League,” he said, as reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“Seeing them 13 years later in the Championship was a surprise, but after two years of playing against the likes of Blackburn, Derby and every other important team in this division, you are more used to playing those games.”

Perhaps it could be suggested that Karanka’s comments hint that he would arrive at Elland Road – if given the job – with the kind of mentality that will please the fans.

He, like many of the supporters, appears to deem Leeds as a club with top flight-level stature – even if that is just because of the fact that he faced them at a time when the Whites were threatening to achieve real greatness and did not keep up with their plight – and that should arguably ensure that, if he does get the job, he does not put any limit on his ambitions with the Whites.