Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani praised former Whites coach and current West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan ahead of his move to Huddersfield Town in 2020, with the Spaniard heavily linked to replace Jesse Marsch at Elland Road.
Leeds confirmed in a club statement on Monday afternoon that Marsch had been sacked as head coach. The news came the day after the Whites' 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Marsch's side were without a Premier League win since November - a 4-3 win vs Bournemouth - and decided to take action less than 24 hours after the full-time whistle had gone. Everton's shock 1-0 win over Arsenal under Sean Dyche may well have jolted the board into action as they look to replace the American for the rest of the season.
READ MORE: Leeds United next manager odds after Jesse Marsch sacked as former Whites coach clear favourite
Former Leeds under-23s and first-team coach Corberan has been hotly-tipped to return to the club, and given Radrizzani's glowing comments of the now West Brom manager, it is clear to see why.
"I understand the ambition of Carlos," said the Whites chief back in 2020. "Already last year [2019] he had some opportunities to leave to become a first-team coach. I asked him to stay one year because we had an unfinished job [promotion to the Premier League in the 2019/20 season] and he did stay.
"I think now he needs to have the credit to enjoy this moment of success with everybody because he does this job, hard work every day, I know how much Carlos works and I think now it's also good that he can take his own way, his own path and start a new journey to build himself as a first-team coach. He deserves it."
Radrizzani also detailed the vital role that Corberan performed at the club in creating a clear pathway for youngsters to graduate to the first-team.
"Carlos joined this club in the first year as the manager of the under-23s and he did a good job. I actually asked myself to Marcelo [Bielsa] to have the opportunity to have him involved in the first-team management in order to create more cohesion between under-23s and the first team.
"I think it was a very good idea because we have proven that the co-management of the under-23 and first team created more opportunity to player like Jamie Shackleton, Jordan Stevens, Ian Poveda and Pascal Struijk. We've seen many other players join the first team during these two years. This takes the cohesion, the management that was a consequence of my request to have Carlos on the team of Marcelo."
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