Presenter Joe Wainman has expressed his concern that Nuno Espirito Santo may not be interested in a short-term role as Leeds United manager.
Could Espirito Santo join Leeds?
The former Wolves and Spurs manager has been linked with the vacant role at Elland Road as a replacement for the recently sacked Jesse Marsch, and he is currently head coach of Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Leeds may turn to the Portuguese coach as a short-term solution to help keep them up before looking at long-term targets in the summer, but this may not be desirable for the 49-year-old.
However, Alfred Schreuder is in serious contention to become the Leeds head coach.
Speaking on the Just Joe Football Show, Wainman claimed that if Espirito Santo was to join and help Leeds survive, that he would want to stay at the club beyond the summer.
“It’s just difficult right now. That’s what I’m mean, if Nuno keeps you up, you have to keep him,” he stated.
“You have to keep him. I don’t know if he’d agree to an 18-month deal, he might want a longer one.”
A poor fit?
Although he was an overall success at Wolves, helping them get promoted and even reaching a Europa League quarter-final, the style of play he employed is a heavy contrast to the high-energy football Leeds played under Marcelo Bielsa, and Marsch.
Leeds have averaged the eighth-highest possession in the league this season, with an average of 50.3%, whilst Wolves came 13th in this regard in Espirito Santo’s first Premier League season with Wolves in 2018-19, with an average of 47.4%.
Leeds focused a lot of their recruitment in recent windows on players suited to Marsch’s style, with the likes of Brendan Aaronson and Tyler Adams arriving having previously worked with the American, and Espirito Santo may provide too much of a stylistic clash to have a positive impact with their current squad during this season.
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