Iraola? Slot? Nuno? Leeds’ search for Marsch replacement remains up in the air - The Athletic 11/2/23

By Phil Hay

You can often follow the trail of Leeds United’s recruitment by monitoring Victor Orta’s airport appearances. The club’s director of football spent part of the week in Madrid before heading to Amsterdam towards the end of it. He is on the move in an effort to crack the appointment of a new head coach.

He came home from the Netherlands and Spain empty-handed, which is how Leeds’ managerial search currently stands. Appointing someone before Sunday’s game against Manchester United was not a red line in the minds of the hierarchy at Elland Road but they envisaged more progress after Jesse Marsch’s dismissal, hoping their ducks would be in a row by now, requiring formalities and not much more.

Orta’s time in Madrid was devoted to courting Andoni Iraola and it was there that the events of this week were shaped. Leeds have tried not to talk in terms of top choices or a single preferred candidate but had their approach for Iraola gone to plan, it is highly likely the Rayo Vallecano coach would have been named as Marsch’s successor. He was high up Orta’s list of targets.

Leeds believed Iraola wanted the job and nothing in their discussions about him persuaded them otherwise. Iraola has tried to be respectful to Rayo Vallecano and their president, Martin Presa, but he told his club that Leeds was an opportunity he wanted to explore and, if a final offer was there, an opportunity he was tempted to take. Rayo Vallecano stood firm over his release, though, and refused to let him go. Orta was unable to clear the impasse and those talks have been deadlocked for days.

Iraola’s contract includes a release clause but the process of activating it is not straightforward — or not as straightforward as Leeds simply paying the required fee to free him from his deal. Iraola, whose team are fifth in La Liga, would effectively be required to activate the clause himself, forcing his way out of Rayo Vallecano and confronting the club’s refusal to sanction his exit. So far, he has not been willing to start that fight. The feeling in Spain is that he wants to leave but not in a way that reflects poorly on him.

Leeds have tried not to assume that hopes of enticing Iraola are completely dead. He has been successful in his short time as a manager, taking second-tier Mirandes to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey before winning promotion to La Liga with Rayo Vallecano in 2021, using a small budget to create a very capable top-flight side. But Leeds diverting to explore Feyenoord’s Arne Slot as an option on Thursday was a sign Orta’s attempt to pin down Iraola on Wednesday, before Orta’s return to England for Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, had not succeeded.

Slot, 44, had Feyenoord at the top of the Dutch Eredivisie table until Friday, when AZ Alkmaar moved a point ahead of them. Despite reports to the contrary, his contract at Feyenoord does not include a release clause (or at least, not one Leeds can activate here and now). Orta’s journey to the Netherlands suggested he thought Slot was interested in hearing about the vacancy at Elland Road but Feyenoord were quick to say publicly that they would not entertain the idea of Slot departing. On Friday, Slot appeared to count himself out of the running too. “I will stay with Feyenoord,” he said. “I can say that with this one.”

Both of those targets were engaged more actively than Carlos Corberan, another coach linked with the post. Leeds’ former under-23s boss ended talk of him returning by signing a new long-term contract with West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, a deal that had been on the table for a month. Leeds are indicating Corberan was never made a concrete offer or approached in person by Orta. The message from Corberan’s camp has been very similar: although he is admired by Leeds’ chairman Andrea Radrizzani in particular, a decision to appoint him was never close.

For Leeds, finding a new head coach before a critical relegation battle at Everton next weekend was more of a priority than finding one before Manchester United at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon. Their squad is in the hands of under-21s coach Michael Skubala and Skubala handled Wednesday’s draw at Old Trafford well. But as the days go by and the freedom to be patient diminishes, other names will come into the frame unless someone like Iraola comes good. Former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo is one of those under discussion. Nuno is in charge of Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia but would be keen on another chance in the Premier League. No approach has been made for Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou but Leeds are not oblivious to the Australian’s impact at Parkhead.

At the end of a week that had Orta in the air for much of it, the club are getting close to the point where they need a breakthrough. Skubala has already been given Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United but Leeds would love a scenario where, if their new head coach is not quite in the stands in body, he is almost there in spirit. A game of poker has developed at Elland Road, with the club waiting to see which way the cards will fall.