Possible blow for Leeds linked Marcelo Bielsa as trusted assistant lands new job

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Leeds United linked manager Marcelo Bielsa is said to be in negotiations with the Whites.

Leeds United fans are waiting for the club to progress talks with potential next manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Sky Sports reported this week that Leeds are in talks with Bielsa over the vacancy and he is the overwhelming bookies favourite.

One complication appears to be Bielsa managing to get his backroom staff in place.

His selection process got a lot harder this week when trusted colleague Javier Torrente landed a job in Chile with Everton Vina.

Torrente was assistant to Bielsa for the Argentine national team for six years, and most recently with Marseille.

Chilean newspaper AS reported his unveiling, where Torrente, who had recently been managing in Mexico, hailed Bielsa’s way of thinking.

He said: “Every time you meet him, he is reinvented, he continues to be nourished in his way of watching football, it is surprising.”

So Torrente is off the list, the second of Bielsa’s recent assistants who cannot join him at Leeds.

Belgian outlet Voetball Nieuws report Bielsa wanted to bring in Jan Van Winckel as his assistant at Leeds but had been unsuccessful.

Van Winckel also worked with Bielsa at Marseille, but is instead working in two roles, one for the Saudi Arabia FA and also as an advisor to the Sheffield United board, making a switch to Leeds impractical.

Bielsa is well connected, and shouldn’t be short of options, but with his trusted ex colleagues unavailable, it is understandable that there is a bit of a delay.