Leeds United have announced the appointment of Javi Gracia as the manager to replace Jesse Marsch.
Javi Gracia most recently managed Watford in the Premier League, where he led the club to the FA Cup final in 2019. Following that, he was named manager of Valencia in Spain, and then coach of Al Sadd in Qatar.
The 52-year-old tactician is expected to keep Leeds United in the Premier League, a task the board believed Jesse Marsch would be unable to complete, leading to his dismissal on February 6.
Leeds United are now languishing in 19th place in the league table after being without a permanent coach for more than two weeks.
Following Marsch’s departure, the club’s under-21 coach Michael Skubala took over as interim coach.
Javi Gracia’s first task as Leeds United manager will be to defeat bottom-placed Southampton on Saturday in order to begin their climb back to safety.
A statement from Leeds on Tuesday read that Gracia has been appointed on a “flexible contract” and will take charge of the side against Saints “subject to obtaining the necessary work permissions”.
Watford fired Gracia in September 2019 after a difficult start to the season.
He had only one full season in charge when he was appointed in January 2018, leading Watford to their first FA Cup final in 35 years and finishing 11th in the Premier League.
He presided over 56 Premier League games, winning 18 of them and averaging 1.18 points per game.
Discussion about this post