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Marcelo Bielsa has long been revered as one of the best managers in the world by his peers.
He has been an influencer for the likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, and it may be time for those two to give a little back to the man who helped make them the managers they are today.
Bielsa’s influence
It’s no secret that the Argentine was a hugely important part of making Pochettino one of the world’s leading coaches.
The Leeds manager initially scouted the Spurs boss at the beginning of his playing career, and he eventually played under him as he took the reins at Newell’s Old Boys.
Pochettino went into detail about his time working with Bielsa in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport (Via SportWitness) saying:
‘I was 13 when Bielsa and Jorge Griffa took me from a small town called Murphy and brought me to Newell’s. He gave me my debut.
‘He’s like my second father. We were also together at Espanyol and in the national team. I owe him everything.’
The former Marseille boss also has a strong relationship with Guardiola, who once described him as “the best coach in the world.”
Ask for a favour
Although Bielsa is a very proud man, he shouldn’t hesitate to ask his two protégés for a favour now that they’re managing two of the biggest clubs in the world.
City and Tottenham both have a wide array of youngsters available for loan, and Leeds should have first dibs due to their manager’s close ties with the men in charge in both Manchester and north London.
Guardiola has already helped the 63-year-old by sending him Jack Harrison last year, but they should approach the Citizens for a few more players.
Patrick Roberts, Tosin Adarabioyo, Douglas Luiz and many others could be useful additions to the Leeds squad next season, and Bielsa could use his relationship with the City boss to broker a deal.
The same goes for Pochettino and Spurs, Josh Onomah, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Oliver Skipp are all candidates to go out on loan to the Championship this summer.
The Whites will almost certainly dip into the loan market again in the upcoming window, and when they do their first port of call should be their gaffer’s two close allies.
