Daniel Farke is firmly ensconced as Leeds United manager these days, but had things not worked out as they have, the all whites could’ve been going down an entirely different route.
As the club pushes forward under the guidance of the German, who has been there, done it and bought the t-shirt before, it’s worth considering just what life might’ve been like at Elland Road under the incredibly talented Paulo Fonseca.
As Record report, once Marcelo Bielsa was fired from his post, it was crucial that the right man came in to replace him, and that was why Fonseca was considered for the role.
At the TransferRoom congress taking place in Portugal, attendees found out the deal was never close.
“We didn’t talk much about the project itself. It was a quick meeting,” Fonseca was quoted as saying (h/t Record).
“He (Victor Orta) talked a lot about the club, the infrastructure, the culture of the club and the city. It was more about that.”
Given how successful the 50-year-old has gone on to become, and just how poor the managerial appointments were at Leeds post-Bielsa, it will surely leave the Elland Road faithful thinking what might have been.
With Fonseca never having managed in the Premier League there’s no guarantee he would’ve been a success of course either, and the chain of events that got Farke through the door is unlikely to have ever come to pass.