‘The timing would be difficult for Bielsa’

Marcelo Bielsa would be a good fit for Everton according to BBC Radio Leeds’ Adam Pope, but only if the timing is right.

Pope, who covered Leeds when Bielsa was in charge, told BBC Radio Merseyside: “He doesn’t come mid-season. In 30 years he has never come mid-season to a club.

“The difference this year was that he almost went to Bournemouth but that would have been during the World Cup break which was essentially like a pre-season.

“This is why I say the timing would be difficult for him because he probably would need those five, six, seven weeks to get the squad up to the standard he requires.

“We saw that with Leeds, he took a middling Championship side to this unbelievably brilliant football-playing side that was challenging for promotion in the first season and then romped it in the second season.

“The timing just seems a bit unlikely for me, but more than that, if the board don’t meet his demands then he will say no.

“I just feel for him to do it now it would be a massive break in his thinking on how he goes about taking over a football club. But he is 11 months without a job.

“He does want to come back to the Premier League as far as I know, so why not Everton? Even if it isn’t just now.”

Hear the full interview on BBC Sounds