Elland Road icon admits that he thought Leeds United would sell him until Marcelo Bielsa arrived

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Marcelo Bielsa transformed Leeds United and everything to do with the club when the Argentine arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2018, without speaking a word of English.

Three and a half years later, Bielsa left Leeds as one of the club’s biggest legends to have ever been associated with the club. Promotion to the Premier League and an immediate ninth-placed top-tier finish.

Bielsa made Leeds fans dream again. His incredibly hectic style of play brought the best out of a Leeds squad that flourished under the former Marseille, Argentina, Lille and Athletic Bilbao manager.

The best bit of work Bielsa did perhaps, was his ability to coax the best out of the players at his disposal. The likes of Kalvin Phillips, Luke Ayling, Mateusz Klich and Patrick Bamford enjoyed their best under him.

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Stuart Dallas admits he thought he would leave Leeds United

The Northern Ireland star is another example of how the best form of his career came under Bielsa and quite frankly, by quite some distance. Dallas was a mediocre Championship player at best beforehand.

Much like Cooper, Ayling and even Bamford despite his £10m fee. Bielsa got the best out of them and speaking to LUFCinema, Dallas admits he thought he would be leaving Leeds until Bielsa arrived.

“I will be honest with you, I had it tough in the first few seasons at Leeds. I was playing, I wasn’t playing, Garry Monk had come in and I loved playing under him and Thomas Christiansen as well,” Dallas said.

“But I thought possibly my time was coming to an end under Leeds [until Bielsa arrived]. Let’s be honest, Bielsa made me,” Dallas continued, discussing the early years of his career at Leeds.

Dallas’ Leeds spell in numbers, comparing before and after Bielsa

The versatile star had actually spent three years at Elland Road before Bielsa took over from now-Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom. But his Leeds career and his career entirely propelled after Bielsa’s arrival.

Having a hand in 49 goals for Leeds, 24 of those came with Bielsa. The 2020-21 campaign saw Dallas play every single minute of Premier League football for the Yorkshire side, a quite incredible achievement.

Dallas has since been active in the media after retiring from football due to the injury he suffered in April 2022, a couple of months after Jesse Marsch arrived. He says Jack Grealish was not to blame for the injury.