Leeds United set to make Javi Gracia their manager until end of the season
- Simon Wilkes
- 21 February 2023
Leeds are reportedly on the verge of appointing Javi Gracia as their new manager, with the 52-year-old expected to sign an initial deal at Elland Road until the end of the 2022/23 season.
The Spaniard, who was Watford's head coach between 2018 and 2019, looks set to become Jesse Marsch's successor at the struggling Premier League club.
Marsch was sacked earlier this month after a defeat at Nottingham Forest, with under-21s manager Michael Skubala placed in interim charge for the last three games.
Gracia is reportedly expected to sign an initial deal until the end of the season and will be tasked with keeping the second-bottom club in the Premier League.
He has been out of work since leaving Al Sadd in June, but did well in his previous spell in England, taking the Hornets to the 2019 FA Cup final and securing an 11th-placed finish in the league before being sacked just four games into the following season.
His expected appointment will end a lengthy search for Marsch's replacement, with the club having been linked with Andoni Iraola, Arne Slot and Alfred Schreuder.
Gracia looks set to be in charge in time for Saturday's crunch game with Southampton at Elland Road on Saturday.
