Leeds United Set To Confirm Javi Gracia As New Head Coach

Leeds United are set to confirm the appointment of former Watford boss Javi Gracia as their new head coach.

The West Yorkshire club renewed their search for Jesse Marsch’s replacement after a 1-0 defeat by Everton on Saturday, with a crucial clash against Southampton looming this weekend.

They have now turned to Gracia, who has been out of work since leaving Al Saad in Qatar last June.

The Spaniard will come in initially until the end of the season to oversee the fight against relegation.

Under-21s coach Michael Skubala had taken caretaker charge of the past three matches following Marsch’s sacking on February 6 but a poor performance at Goodison Park left Leeds 19th in the Premier League, two points from safety.

Skubala was hoisted into the dug-out after Leeds failed with approaches for Rayo Vallecano’s Andoni Iraola and Feyenoord’s Arne Slot. Subsequent plans to name ex-Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder as boss to the end of the season were abandoned amid a fierce online backlash to the idea.

Leeds announced last Tuesday that Skubala and a caretaker team of Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas would take charge of “upcoming fixtures” but their Premier League status is in serious jeopardy with 15 games to go and Southampton due at Elland Road this Saturday.

Defeat to Southampton would drop Leeds to the foot of the table.

Gracia, who managed Watford in 2018 and 2019, is available having been out of work since his last job with Al Sadd. Other coaching jobs have taken him to Valencia, Malaga and Rubin Kazan.

He was recruited by Watford to lead a successful fight against relegation from the Premier League during the 2017-18 campaign but, after keeping them up the following year, was sacked just four games into the 2019-20 season after Watford took one point from them.

The Athletic/Emmanuel Ukoh