A third season in the Championship with Leeds United would have appealed to Marcelo Bielsa even if they hadn’t won promotion, according to Angus Kinnear.
Talks continue between the head coach and the club’s top brass over a new contract as the Whites head into the Premier League.
LeedsLive understands United remain quietly confident with their progress as they methodically plot their way through Bielsa’s requests for 20/21.
In one of the clearest boosts for hopes Bielsa will stick around, chief executive Kinnear admitted he felt the Argentine may have even stuck around if they failed to go up again.
Speaking in the hours after the title was confirmed by Brentford’s loss at Stoke City last month, Kinnear felt the challenge of fighting for promotion with a smaller budget and more academy prospects would have appealed to Bielsa.
While conceding it is a challenge to predict Bielsa’s intentions, Kinnear said Bielsa had fallen in love with United and was very focused on the Championship, but also the academy and the players being produced at Thorp Arch.
“The challenge with Marcelo is, intentions are always a bit of a mystery because he’s only focused on the next game,” said Kinnear.
“You’re a brave man to try and distract him from the task of the next match. He’s fallen in love with the club, he’s committed to it.
“I actually think he was committed to the project in the Championship. We hadn’t had a specific conversation, but he’s been very, very focused on what we’ve done with the academy and getting that up to Category One status.
“He’s hugely focused on the younger players and developing them.
“If we hadn’t have made it, it would have probably been the case we were competing next year in the Championship with a younger squad and we’d have had to blood some young players going through.
“That challenge appealed to him.”
The Premier League season is scheduled to get underway in 39 days’ time and, as it stands, United do not yet have a head coach under contract for the new campaign.
