Leeds United missed out on promotion back to the Premier League.
Former Leeds United boss Simon Grayson has told Goal that he thinks Marcelo Bielsa made the conscious decision not to bring in more reinforcements in January.
The Whites were in a strong position to win automatic promotion, but a dismal Easter period and end of the season saw them slip into the playoffs.
Even in the playoffs, Leeds squandered their chance, as they were 2-0 up on aggregate to Derby County before throwing the game away and losing 4-3.
Bielsa is staying for another season, but the fallout from failing to go up is that Leeds may have to sell players to bring them in this summer.
Some have pointed to the January window as a reason why Leeds didn’t go up, as Bielsa only brought in veteran goalkeeper Kiko Casilla and young midfielder Mateusz Bogusz.
Leeds did try and bring in Swansea City winger Daniel James, but that deal fell through on deadline day at the last minute. Still, there weren’t many other concrete transfer rumours for Leeds in January.
Now, ex-Leeds boss Grayson has suggested that Bielsa was given the chance to bring in new signings but simply chose not to, and feels it really cost Leeds in the run-in, as they were a couple of key players short of promotion in the end.
“I think personally I would have strengthened in January,” said Grayson. “When I was in charge of Leeds I wasn’t given that opportunity. I think Bielsa was given that opportunity, but he just didn’t want to do it.”
“That was his decision, but I just felt they were a couple of players short of getting over the line,” he added.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
