• Former Argentina manager in talks over post • Leeds expected to make imminent announcement

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Leeds remain on course to appoint the former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa as the club’s new head coach.

Bielsa, 62, who has also had a spell in charge of Chile, has been Leeds’s top target since Paul Heckingbottom was sacked this month.

Talks between Leeds and Bielsa’s representatives in Buenos Aires have been taking place for several weeks and the former Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Lille manager is keen to take on his first job in England.

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Leeds fans have grown impatient over the apparent lack of progress in finding Heckingbottom’s successor, but there are no major obstacles remaining and an announcement is imminent.

Leeds outlined their plans to bring in an experienced manager to help launch a promotion push from the Championship when announcing Heckingbottom’s departure.

Bielsa fits the bill. He remains highly respected despite an acrimonious departure from his last job at Lille in December following a fall out with the French club.

He has had spells at Argentinian clubs Newell’s Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield and a spell in charge of Espanyol was cut short when he was appointed Argentina’s head coach in 1998.

Argentina won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics and were runners-up in the Copa América the same year under Bielsa, who spent seven years in the role.

Bielsa guided Chile to the 2010 World Cup, steered Athletic Bilbao to the Europa League final and Copa del Rey final in 2012, but he also fell out with the hierarchy at Marseille, where he resigned in 2015.