‘Leeds to replace Daniel Farke as Jose Mourinho will stay up’: ‘Terribly sorry’
Jose Mourinho has been backed to make a major impact if he replaces Daniel Farke as Leeds United manager.
After the heartbreak of their Championship play-off final defeat to Southampton last season, the Yorkshire outfit have enjoyed an outstanding campaign this time around.
Leeds have won promotion back to the Premier League as Championship title winners, having amassed a remarkable 100 points across the course of their 46 league games.
Despite that, there is uncertainty about exactly who will be in the Elland Road dugout as they return to the top-flight next season.
There have already been suggestions that Leeds could sack managerial Daniel Farke this summer, due to concerns over his two previous failed spells in the Premier League when he was in charge of Norwich City.
Richard Keys and Andy Gray back Daniel Farke exit
While it remains to be seen if Farke will still be in charge at the start of next season, there has already been speculation about who might replace him.
It is understood that former Chelsea, Man United and Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is among those on Leeds’ shortlist to potentially take charge should they change their manager.
Now, Richard Keys and Andy Gray have suggested that the Whites ought to be making such an alteration in the their dugout, indicating they do not believe Farke should get another chance in the top-flight.
That comes in the wake of another a second consecutive campaign where the three promoted clubs – Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton – have been relegated straight back to the Championship.
Speaking on beIN Sports, Keys asked the former Everton striker if he would accept a change in manager this summer if he was a Leeds fan.
| Daniel Farke as Leeds manager | Total (as per Transfermarkt) |
| Played | 104 |
| Won | 64 |
| Drawn | 21 |
| Lost | 19 |
In response to that, Gray said (3 May): “If I’m the owner of Leeds and I’ve put my money into this project, and I employed a coach to get us out of the Championship, and he’s done that, and I think for the future of the club: ‘I can get a better coach, a more experienced coach, someone who I think can give us success in the Premier League’, I would make a change”.
After Keys agreed with that, Gray continued: “I’d feel terribly sorry for Daniel Farke, because he’s done fantastically well Keysey.
“Lots of people will say, ‘He deserves a chance, he deserves a chance’. Those three coaches were given a chance at the bottom of the league this year.”
Keys then referenced Farke’s two unsuccessful managerial stints in the Premier League with Norwich, leading Gray to reply: “So there’s your answer, and if I thought I’d get a better person now I would pay him handsomely, pay his bonus, bank him.”
Discussing potential options, Keys then declared: “Mourinho would set Leeds on fire. They would not go down, let’s get that straight, and I they would be competitive at the top end in season two. But there’s no move on that at the moment, just a rumour.”
“We think”, Gray added.
Leeds United appointing Jose Mourinho would be a fascinating move
Football Insider Verdict
There is no doubt that this potential managerial change for next season would generate a huge amount of interest.
While Mourinho is one of the most enigmatic managers in the game, Leeds themselves also have an extremely passionate fanbase.
The results of putting the two together could therefore make for an intriguing combination to see how they react to each other, something which would undoubtedly be influenced by results.
As recent years have shown, it is an incredibly tough ask for Championship promotion winners making the step up to the Premier League.
But with the backing they will hope to have in the window, and with a manager with Mourinho’s reputation and ability, Leeds may feel they will have a chance of staying up if they make this change.
With that in mind, there will be plenty of observers keeping a close eye on Elland Road in the summer to see exactly what storylines might be set up for the 2025/26 campaign.