Leeds United are edging ever closer to appointing Argentinian manager as their new manager, with reports from South America today suggesting that a deal is all but done.
It will be quite the coup for Leeds, who sacked Paul Heckingbottom last week after he failed to impress during his three months in charge.
Bielsa is one of the biggest names in management, and he has managed some of the biggest players in world football.
These players range from Manchester United and Chile star Alexis Sanchez, to Bayern Munich and Spain defender Javi Martinez.
All of his former players have had nice things to say about him. Here is a look at what some of them have said about the man who is set to become the next man in charge at Elland Road (as quoted by Sky Sports):
Javi Martinez is currently at Bayern Munich, but he had the pleasure of playing under Marcelo Bielsa during his time at Athletic Bilbao. Speaking about the Argentinian, Martinez said: “Bielsa taught me a lot, how to play as a centre-back and to learn a different style of football. Everyone should work with him at least once in their life.”
Mauricio Pochettino is currently the manager at Tottenham Hotspur, and has been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. He is one of the best managers in football, and he says that he owes that to Bielsa, who he played under during Bielsa’s time in charge of Argentina.
“He is like my football father,” said Pochettino.
“We are a generation of coaches who were his disciples. How he feels football, the passion he has for football, I think we all took that from him.”
Alexis Sanchez played for Bielsa when he was the manager of the Chilean national team, and he was also full of praise for the Argentine.
He said: “Taking on Marcelo Bielsa is important to me, I learned a lot from him and it is because of him that I am who I am. What I remember the most about Bielsa was the mentality that he tries his players to have.”
