Leeds United news: Marcelo Bielsa sleeps at the training ground and speaks to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola constantly
Guardiola has previously called Bielsa 'the best coach in the world'
Marcelo Bielsa speaks to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola ‘pretty much every day’, according to former Leeds United defender Danny Mills.
Guardiola has long been an admirer of Bielsa and has previously claimed he is the “best coach in the world” because of his influence on football.
During his famous spy-gate press conference, the Leeds boss recalled a story on how he showed Guardiola his analysis after Bilbao lost to Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final where he said ‘you know more about Barcelona than me’.
That mutual respect between the two managers appears to have continued.
“Pep is on the phone to him pretty much every day,” Danny Mills told talkSPORT. “There was a meeting the other day with the directors where Bielsa came out and said 'Sorry I’ve had to put Pep on hold about five times this morning so I felt I had better talk to him.'
“What he has done is incredible. It is the same group of players. He’s hardly invested anything. He didn’t really want anyone in the window.
“His theory was that by the time they’ve got up to speed with his way of playing, to the fitness levels I demand, you are going to be six to eight weeks post window and there will be two games left.
“It’s just not worth the financial risk.”
Mills also illustrated just how different Bielsa is than other managers and how much Leeds have invested in him.
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He added: “He came to Leeds on a huge contract. More money than any manager has been on at Leeds for some time. They put all their eggs in one basket.
“He either lives in a little one bedroom flat in Wetherby, just by the training ground, or he sleeps at the training ground.
“They took about six weeks to haggle over the rent on his one bedroom flat – he’s on about £4million a year! He’s just different.”