Title-winning manager Leeds United rejected now heading to Abu Dhabi
Former Ajax manager Alfred Scheuder is on his way to the Middle East with Al Ain after Leeds United called off talks to bring the Dutchman to the Premier League.
If things had worked out differently – had the potential appointment of Alfred Scheuder not elicited such a reaction from the Elland Road terraces – where would Leeds United find themselves right now, with just one Premier League matchday remaining?
Three months after Leeds called off talks with the one-time Barcelona assistant, his disastrous stint at Ajax not going unnoticed by a highly unconvinced fanbase, the Yorkshire giants have bounced from Michael Skubala to Javi Gracia to Sam Allardyce.
Hardly the calling card of a team with a clear plan of action in place.
And, with even one of English football’s great firefighters seemingly unable to quell the growing blaze, relegation now looms for a club who have torn up the foundations laid painstakingly down by Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds United held talks with former Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder
Would Schreuder have succeeded where the likes of Gracia failed? That is a question no one could answer with any degree of certainty. Though it is easy to forget – given how much his reputation was affected by that Ajax stint – that Schreuder guided Club Brugge to the Belgian league title as recently as 2021/22.
The 50-year-old Dutchman, who was in the stands as Leeds lost 2-0 at home to arch rivals Manchester United in February, is now closing in on a move to the United Arab Emirates instead. Ajax Showtime report that he will soon put pen to paper with Al Ain.
The Abu Dhabi-based outfit, 14 time champions of the UAE Pro League, are currently under the stewardship of one-time Tottenham Hotspur striker Sergiy Rebrov. His contract, however, is due to expire at the end of the current campaign.
Allardyce, hired on a short-term deal, finds himself in a similar situation. The Athletic believe that Leeds could turn to the now-unattached Brendan Rodgers or Graham Potter as they look to get themselves back on the right track again after 15 months of seemingly never-ending mistakes on and off the pitch.
