Marcelo Bielsa signs new contract as Leeds United head coach - YEP 12/8/21
Marcelo Bielsa has officially signed a new contract as Leeds United head coach.
By Lee Sobot
The Whites boss said at Thursday's pre-Manchester United
press conference that his contract situation had already been resolved although
a new deal had yet to be signed.
But the 66-year-old has now put pen to paper on a fresh
one-year-deal, running until the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
Bielsa was appointed as Whites head coach back in the summer
of 2018 and the Argentine has transformed the club's fortunes.
After a heart-breaking defeat in the 2018-19 Championship
play-offs, Leeds stormed to promotion as champions the following season and
then sealed a hugely impressive ninth-placed finish upon their Premier League
return.
Bielsa's existing contract had expired this summer and the
South American has regularly penned one-year deals.
Bielsa has taken charge of 140 matches during his time at
Leeds and boasts a win ratio of 52.85 per cent having steered Leeds to 74
victories.
The former Argentina boss now becomes the first Leeds
manager to head for a fourth season in charge of the Whites since Howard
Wilkinson.
The club's second season back in the Premier League starts
with Saturday's eagerly-awaited clash against arch rivals Manchester United at
Old Trafford in a lunchtime kick-off.
“From my point of view this is an extraordinary club,"
said Bielsa.
“It’s not often you have a club who designates so much
volume of investment to the improvement of the training.
“In this sense, Leeds have made a significant contribution
economically for the tools for a manager to prepare his players to be the ideal
ones.
“Everything that we need in this area, the club has resolved
it with a very high investment.
“Whether that be the pitches, the facilities, the
technology, commodities for the work of the players and in this sense, I am
very astounded by the conduct of the club.
“I think the most important coaches that world football has
would value what this club means in terms of organisation, structure and the
public.”
