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Leeds United are on the hunt for a new manager after sacking Jesse Marsch less than 12 months after his appointment.
Marsch departs after a run of just two wins in the Premier League since August, with Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest leaving them outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
A number of names have been linked and here BBC Sport takes a look at some of the potential candidates to take charge.
Rafael Benitez
Age: 62 Nationality: Spanish Current club: Unattached
One of the most experienced managers in the game, Benitez is available after leaving Everton a year ago.
The Spaniard is well versed with the Premier League, famously winning the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool, the 2013 Europa League during an interim spell at Chelsea and a popular spell on Tyneside when he guided Newcastle to promotion from the Championship.
He also has stints at some of Europe’s major clubs on his CV including Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Napoli and Valencia.
Marcelo Bielsa
Age: 67 Nationality: Argentine Current club: Unattached
The man Jesse Marsch replaced as head coach last year. Known to be keen to get back into management after being interviewed for the Everton job recently.
Bielsa got Leeds promoted to the Premier League and then kept them up but was sacked as they struggled last season.
Despite that, it seems many fans would welcome him back. He would know most of the squad but would he want to come back so soon?
Carlos Corberan
Age: 39 Nationality: Spanish Current club: West Bromwich Albion
The Spaniard was a coach under Bielsa before departing in 2020 to take over at Championship side Huddersfield.
In his second season at the Terriers he took them to within a game of returning to the Premier League but lost out to Nottingham Forest in the play-off final at Wembley.
Corberan left to then take over Greek giants Olympiacos but was sacked after just 11 games. He returned to England to take charge of West Brom and has led them from the relegation zone to fighting for a place in the play-offs.
Steven Gerrard
Age: 42 Nationality: English Current club: Unattached
Former England captain Gerrard is out of work after being sacked as Aston Villa manager earlier this season, with the side teetering above the relegation zone.
He lasted just 11 months at Villa Park, winning 13 of 40 games, and his time came to an end when supporters sang anti-Gerrard chants in his final match.
Before that, Gerrard’s first managerial job game in Scotland with Rangers, guiding them to a first top-flight league title since 2011 with an unbeaten campaign and breaking Celtic’s stranglehold on the trophy.
Ralph Hasenhuttl
Age: 55 Nationality: Austrian Current club: Unattached
The Austrian became Southampton manager in December 2018 and guided them out of the Premier League relegation zone and to safety.
In his second season he led them to 11th and a points total of 52 – the Saints’ highest since 2015-16.
His time at the club did also feature some heavy defeats, with 9-0 losses to Leicester and Manchester United, and he was dismissed in November last year with Southampton in the relegation zone, where they remain.
Prior to his time at Southampton he led RB Leipzig to a second-placed finish in the Bundesliga.
Kjetil Knutsen
Age: 54 Nationality: Norwegian Current club: FK Bodo/Glimt
Knutsen has been linked with a number of jobs in England in recent months after impressing with his work at Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt, where he has been manager since 2017.
He quickly established them as a dominant force domestically and led them to their first league title in 2020. A successful defence followed while his standout result in Europe saw him oversee a 6-1 win against Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the Europa League two years ago.
Mauricio Pochettino
Age: 50 Nationality: Argentine Current club: Unattached
Pochettino is another manager familiar with the English top flight, leading Southampton to an eighth-placed finish in his first full season in charge.
A move to Tottenham followed where he came agonisingly close to ending the north London side’s long wait for silverware, finishing as runners-up in the 2016-17 title race and beaten by Liverpool in the Champions League final two years later.
Pochettino was dismissed just months later and he went on to manage Ligue 1 giants Paris St-Germain, claiming the league title and cup in France before leaving last summer.
Ange Postecoglou
Age: 57: Nationality: Greek-Australian Current club: Celtic
Postecoglou led Celtic to a league and cup double in 2021-22 and has them on course for more silverware as they sit top of the Scottish Premiership, nine points clear of Rangers.
Previously he was in charge of Australia and led the national team to AFC Asian Cup title in 2015.
Postecoglou has been linked with a number of Premier League jobs this season but has previously stated his intention to see things through at Celtic.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Age: 49 Nationality: Portuguese Current club: Al-Ittihad
Santo has previously managed at Valencia and Porto and had a successful four-year spell at Wolves, guiding the club to promotion from the Championship in his first full season.
He then led the club to two seventh-placed finishes, Wolves’ highest placings in the Premier League, qualifying for Europe for the first time since the 1980-81 season.
Wolves reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2020 but he left by mutual consent at the end of the following campaign.
An ill-fated 17-game spell at Tottenham followed, before being appointed as manager of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad last July.
Thomas Tuchel
Age: 49 Nationality: German Current club: Unattached
It would feel like an ambitious move by Leeds but the German has been out of work since he was sacked by Chelsea back in September.
Tuchel led Chelsea to Champions League success in 2020-21 and won an impressive 60 of his 100 games in charge of the club, losing just 16.
Prior to his time in London, he managed Paris St-Germain and Borussia Dortmund where he boasted impressive win percentages of 75% and 63% respectively.
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