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Marcelo Bielsa visits the Liberty Stadium with Leeds on Tuesday night, but there was a time not so long ago when the Argentinian looked set to have the ground as his home venue.

Wind the clocks back some 32 months and the man dubbed ‘El Loco’ was the favourite to replace Garry Monk as Swans boss and lead their battle against the drop.

Chairman Huw Jenkins and then-chief shareholder Martin Morgan jetted to South America to meet Bielsa in an effort to seal the deal.

But it foundered over the financial package on offer.

Bielsa was again linked with the job in April 2016, and was said to have already extensively scouted and researched the Swans squad, but Francesco Guidolin was trusted with a contract extension at a time when former boss Brendan Rodgers had looked to be on the way back to SA1.

Monk goes and the search begins

Monk - who faced off against his former club for the first time on Friday night - had found his position under scrutiny for weeks before a 3-0 home reverse to eventual champions Leicester proved to be his final game at the helm.

He was relieved of his duties and Swansea found themselves thrust into a managerial hunt they had not been expecting to embark on.

Monk was dismissed on December 9, 2015 and within a week it appeared as though Bielsa was the man destined to replace him.

Swansea had been attracted by the all-action style of his Athletic Bilbao side, with the Basque club having emphatically humbled Manchester United on their way to the 2012 Europa League final.

He was revered in Chile for his work with the national side, while he had led Argentina to Olympic gold in 2004.

Bielsa, 60 years of age at the tail-end of 2015, was out of work at the time having left Marseille one game into the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season.

Even caretaker boss Alan Curtis and some of the players seemed to think so.

(Image: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images)

Club great Curtis had warned his players to expect a “culture shock” in the wake of a Bielsa appointment, admitting he had himself been doing his homework on the potential arrival.

“We have all been Googling him in the last week and finding out about him,” Curtis said.

“The thing that really impresses is the sheer speed at which his teams play - it is incredible. It was like the tape was on fast forward; you have to be some kind of coach to get players to buy into that.

“The football Athletic Bilbao played against Manchester United was played at an incredible pace and to play like that you have to train like that.

“He has a reputation as a bit of a firebrand and with a very intensive approach to training. It could be a bit of a culture shock and I think it is fair to say there is a bit of trepidation among the players, coupled with an admiration of his excellence as a coach.”

Jenkins and Morgan were also mooted to be keen to speak to Jorge Sampaoli, who recently led Argentina at the World Cup in Russia but was at the time in charge of Chile.

Swans return home but no deal

(Image: © Huw Evans Picture Agency)

But when the Swansea contingent returned to South Wales there was no deal in place and it began to become clear that the notion of appointing Bielsa had hit the buffers.

The two sides were thought to be some distance apart financially, while Bielsa’s demand for complete control of football operations was also offered up as a reason for talks breaking down.

Either way, it left Swansea in an awkward spot as time dragged on and a congested Christmas fixture list was negotiated with Curtis in temporary charge but with no idea how long he would be asked to continue in the role.

Eventually, on January 7, Curtis was confirmed as manager until the end of the season, with chairman Jenkins revealing the trials and tribulations that had been faced in the hunt for Monk’s replacement.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

“Finding a replacement hasn’t been easy because we didn’t want to make a short-term decision that would be detrimental to the club long term,” he said in a statement at the time.

“It’s a unique situation for us and I think we are only now appreciating what other Premier League clubs in our position have gone through in the last five years.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of potential managers. Some didn’t want to leave the clubs they were at at this late stage in the season, while others didn’t want to put their reputation on the line by joining a club at the wrong end of the table.

“In the end, we felt the best decision was to change as little as we can until taking stock in the summer.”

Guidolin arrives, Bielsa moves on

Yet just 11 days later there was a new man in the hotseat as Francesco Guidolin was unexpectedly drafted in as head coach until the end of the season. He was said to be working alongside Curtis but would have the final say on selection.

It was a surprise appointment, and an ever bigger surprise when the Italian was retained for the following campaign despite Swansea having most of an agreement in place for Rodgers to return.

Chairman Jenkins called the failure to re-appoint the Northern Irishman as his greatest regret, with Rodgers ending up at Celtic and since winning back-to-back domestic trebles.

Swansea’s fortunes certainly have not matched those of the man who got them to the top-flight.

Bielsa would be appointed Lazio boss in July of 2016, but was in post for just two days before quitting the Serie A club

In the summer of 2017 he was named Lille boss, only to be suspended in November and then dismissed in December.

Leeds move in

Leeds have gone through their fair share of managers in recent years, with Bielsa the Yorkshire club’s 11th full-time appointment in a little over six years.

But Bielsa quickly emerged as the favourite when they parted company with Paul Heckingbottom, just four months after he had left Barnsley to take over at Elland Road.

The Argentinian was duly appointed on June 15.

What has he done?

Renowned for his eccentricities and attention to detail, he has already made an impact.

At his unveiling he revealed he had already watched every Leeds game from the 2017-18 season.

An excellent piece in The Guardian on the eve of the season revealed how Bielsa had enquired as to how long a supporter would have to work to earn the money to buy a ticket to watch their side.

When informed it was around three hours, he had the squad spend the requisite amount of time picking up litter at the training ground.

The story of how he wowed Leeds chiefs during his interview - pulling out a detailed section of notes on a Bolton v Burton game from last season and then examining all other clubs in the division - is quite remarkable.

(Image: PA Wire)

There has already been evidence of his high-energy all-action gameplan in the opening weeks of the season.

He has also looked to immerse himself in the local culture, paying a visit to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

“I visited a fair that gathered many expressions of Yorkshire,” he told LeedsLive .

“It was a big fair, we had about 60,000 people, and this allowed me to get to know the region.

“In Argentina I live in the countryside and there are many similarities in Yorkshire to the region I’m from.

“I think Leeds has a popular expression which is similar to the feelings that stimulate me.‬ I have a deep responsibility.

”I hope I can give fans the answer they are expecting from me.‬ We have received lots of affection from the fans and our results impact a lot of working-class people.”

How have they fared?

Leeds have had an excellent start, comprehensively beating heavily-fancied Stoke and Derby before seeing off Bolton in the Carabao Cup.

Yesterday, they saw off Rotherham 2-0 to maintain their perfect start to the season.

It is little wonder as to why they have been installed as the early favourites for the Championship title.