With the second half of the season now well underway, the inevitable speculation surrounding Marcelo Bielsa’s future beyond May has started to arrive.
The Daily Telegraph have already claimed that Leeds United have drawn up a contingency plan consisting of three potential managers who could succeed him in the Elland Road hotseat.
Ernesto Valverde, Jesse Marsch and Carlos Corberan are the three names Victor Orta has reportedly decided on should Bielsa decide to call it a day at the Whites.
During each of his four years at the club, the same process regarding his contract has always been followed.
Bielsa will never sign anything longer than a one-year deal and talks over a new deal will never begin until the conclusion of a season.
That appears to be no different this year, despite Leeds sitting lower in the table than last season's ninth-place finish, when he agreed a new one-year deal following the conclusion of the campaign.
With that in mind, here is a look at everything he said on his future last season, and what that could tell us about this year.
October 2020 : “I’m very comfortable living and managing in England. Annual contracts does not mean I am not open to staying here longer.
“Like in every negotiation, nothing is done until it’s actually done. There’s nothing of importance. I’ve been working 100% since the promotion celebrations were finished.”
February 2021 : "I understand that the club may have the needs to clear this [my future] up more quickly. I think it’s a normal, logical precaution they must take.
"If the club needs an answer prior to the end of the season, I will respond in the anticipated manner. But I would like it to leave it clear, Leeds as a project surpasses me as a coach.
"I would not consider any alternatives until my job here at Leeds is done. I am not going to be in contact with anyone and no-one has offered me anything. It is the least I can do given how I have been treated by the president of the club."
May 2021: “The evaluation of the continuity of a manager is such a delicate decision. Any argument should be considered. There's not a better argument than every game of football. When all the games are completed it's the moment to do an evaluation. And then to take decisions that are not exclusively mine because the questions position me in a position waiting with respect to Leeds. The structure of this organisation, this team, is a place of work where any manager would like to be. Even the best managers in the world. That's to say, this place in Leeds United that they represent in football, is a place very desired. And I share the idea that Leeds United is a lot more important than I am. The authorities of this club, referring to the president, the sporting director and the general director, they have created a structure that has very few weak spots. Apart from that it has a particularity that makes it singular.
“The president of the club is sensitive to what football signifies and I think, and I think I am not mistaken, I don't think that he sees football just as an economic tool. Of course, it does not ignore the incidents of the economics of football, but he knows what the public, the football and fans mean. I can't not say that I have revised with the authorities of the club all the variables that means to carry on, but like I say, at one moment, I prefer for the season to finish and to take the decision of all the elements of judgement on the table.
“I want to protect myself from the effect of not giving a response when the surroundings would like it. Of course, I am not considering any alternative option. I am being sincere; I do not have any alternative options. If I had it I would privilege my relationship with Leeds and would not run the risk of people thinking Leeds are coming to me more than I am going to towards Leeds. It's not easy to explain so many things.”
