Nigel Martyn suggests Bielsa-chasing Leeds should consider David Moyes

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The Leeds United legend worked with David Moyes during his playing days and has now suggested that the Whites should consider the Scotsman.

Nigel Martyn has suggested to the Yorkshire Evening Post that Leeds should consider targeting David Moyes as the Whites continue to be linked with a stunning move for Marcelo Bielsa.

Leeds parted company with Paul Heckingbottom last week after just four months in the Elland Road hot-seat, and the Yorkshire Evening Post reports that the club are already working on a deal to bring Bielsa in as his replacement.

Despite Bielsa’s incredible reputation in the game, the move is likely to be seen as a gamble by some given that the 62-year-old is yet to work in England, let alone in the Championship. And Leeds legend Martyn appeared to agree that such a deal would be a risk from the Whites, while considering someone like Moyes – who the retired goalkeeper played under at Everton – would be a much smarter approach from Andrea Radrizzani.

“It’s positive to see the club going for someone high-profile,” he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “David Moyes, to me having worked with him, is someone who would be a really safe pair of hands and, I think, would produce a team good enough to go up given time. This (Bielsa) is a different way of thinking, more left-field. But it’s got the potential to work.”

Like Bielsa, Moyes is currently out of work having left West Ham at the end of this past season after guiding the Hammers to a 13th place finish in the Premier League. It was a turbulent tenure that threatened to culminate in relegation from the top flight, but Moyes managed to steady the ship before being replaced by Manuel Pellegrini.

The work that Moyes did at the London Stadium arguably helped start to rebuild his reputation. The Scotsman’s tenures with Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland seemed to undo much of the amazing work that he did with the Toffees.

Leeds would have a difficult task convincing Moyes to drop down into the Championship, and the fans may have perhaps needed some convincing that he would be the right man for the club having not managed in the second tier for 16 years and having struggled to unite the fanbase at any of his previous four clubs.

But Martyn is arguably right to suggest that Leeds would have a much better idea about what they would get by appointing Moyes than they will if Bielsa arrives this summer. Whether that proves to be a good thing remains to be seen.