Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds legacy runs much deeper than long-awaited promotion

Marcelo Bielsa will always be revered by the city of Leeds, not just Leeds United. He restored the club to the Premier League, but his impact on the wider community ran deeper than that.

His legacy transcends Elland Road and cannot be measured by a long-awaited promotion or, when at its best, the breathtaking beauty of his football alone. Bielsa helped one of the UK’s largest cities rediscover its sporting identity.

A city centre street renamed after him and murals depicting Bielsa the saviour in suburbs such as Holbeck, Guiseley, Hyde Park and Wortley attest to that.

As does the outpouring of sadness, indignation and even outrage from fans on social media at the manner of his departure. Did he have to go now, like that?

There will be demands for a statue because after 16 years of hopeless failure on and off the pitch, Bielsa made the fans fall back in love with their club.

He made the city stand up and sing for Leeds United.

And new fans, from South America and all over the world, came to share in the dream and stand alongside them.

In six short weeks in the summer of 2018 after being unveiled as Leeds’ new head coach, he transformed a mid-table Championship side into promotion contenders.

It was true what they said about ‘El Loco’. If he was trusted and allowed to do things his way, they said, he would perform miracles. And he did.

He turned the dream into spectacular reality for a negligible financial outlay. Even Gary Neville and Roy Keane became big fans of Bielsa-ball.

But all dreams must come to an end and as the next page is turned when Leeds are on Monday expected to announce Jesse Marsch as their new manager, fans may begin to realise this was the way it was meant to be.

Leeds are after all English football’s