Sources: Leeds work on sealing multiple new contracts – talks to finalise this week
Leeds United will start work this week on finalising new contracts for Marcelo Bielsa and his coaching assistants, Football Insider understands.
United chiefs have held preliminary talks with Bielsa’s representatives over a new one-year agreement that will see him extend his spell to a fourth season.
A Leeds source has told Football Insider that the club are confident the Argentine, 65, will put pen to paper shortly after the season finished.
His Spanish-speaking backroom team who have been with him throughout his Elland Road tenure are also set to finalise new 12-month deals at the same time.
Bielsa and his assistants are all in line for pay rises after overseeing a first season back in the Premier League that ended in an impressive ninth-place finish.
The total cost to Leeds is set to be well in excess of £7million in total.
The new-look United board are keen to tie their immensely respected manager down in good time, and avoid a repeat of the talks that dragged on last summer.
Bielsa famously did not put pen to paper until the day before their season began with a thrilling defeat at Liverpool.
Leeds chiefs were never in any doubt about him staying but that was a far from ideal situation, even taking into account the Argentine’s meticulous and demanding level of detail.
Bielsa has transformed the fortunes of the Yorkshire giants over the last three years.
They romped to the Championship title in his second season – after missing out on promotion via the play-offs in his first – and won new admirers with the quality of their play back in the Premier League.
In other news, Leeds United are braced for “huge” bids for “phenomenon” who has missed two-thirds of the season.