Marcelo Bielsa happy to wait until the summer to decide Leeds future

| 22 February 2021

Marcelo Bielsa signed a one-year extension in September after guiding the club into the Premier League.

Marcelo Bielsa said it would be better for Leeds to wait until the end of the season before deciding whether to extend his contract.

But Bielsa, who signed a one-year extension to his deal in September after Leeds had won promotion to the Premier League, insisted that did not mean he wants to leave Elland Road.

"The first thing I want to highlight, because what it seems like is that the president is offering me an extension and I am delaying it," Bielsa said.

Bielsa is in his third season as head coach at Elland Road (Nick Potts/PA)

"It could be interpreted as the club having more of a desire for me to stay than I do and that's not the case.

"In no way do I want to position myself above the club. I reiterate, I am not going to manage any other options until my job here at Leeds is done. There is no speculation from my part."

Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has made it clear he wants Bielsa to remain in the role and that the club were waiting for the Argentinian's decision.

Bielsa added: "The second thing is that the decision to work in a club for another year is so important that you must have a clear security.

"When you have a third of the season left to play, perhaps in this period there will be things that happen that will alter the judgement that is useful to have in mind. That is my reasoning. So I go to what you ask me.

"If the club needs and answer before the end of the season, I will respond before the end of the season.

"But if this happens I will take the time to tell them that they should consider what happens in the last part of the season.

"In this case it's possible that they could say to me 'OK, we'll wait until the end of the season', or they may say to me 'no, we need to resolve this before the end of the season'. If they need a response prior to the end of the season then I will give one."

💬 "Every team has a bunch of negative results" Marcelo on Southampton's recent run of form pic.twitter.com/RwXAALFWZs

— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 22, 2021

Leeds, who play Southampton at home on Tuesday night, are 12th in the table after Bielsa guided them back to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.

They have received widespread acclaim for their entertainment value, while Bielsa is revered among some of the world's top coaches, including Pep Guardiola, for his methodology and its positive effect on his players.

Bielsa, whose side are bidding to avoid a third straight league defeat after Friday's 1-0 defeat Wolves, confirmed neither midfielder Kalvin Phillips (calf) or forward Rodrigo (groin) would be ready to face the Saints.