As compelling as the arguments may have been for Leeds United investment in January, there should be little surprise Marcelo Bielsa took the coaching route.
At no stage has it ever felt like the head coach has turned to Victor Orta and the recruitment team for solutions. There is always another option in the squad or more coaching to be done on the training pitch.
As unprecedented as the injury situation and league position currently is during the Bielsa era, there were not enough factors at play to have Bielsa blink on the options which may have been brought to him.
Ironically, Bielsa next takes his side into matches with clubs who took drastically different approaches in the January window with a chance to immediately prove why he chose to stick rather than twist.
Aston Villa are already a few months into their project with Steven Gerrard, but weren’t afraid to back him in the first available window.
Lucas Digne, a left-back, required a reported £27m outlay, matching United’s record transfer fee for Rodrigo in 2020.
Philippe Coutinho may only be a loan deal from Barcelona, but added several digits to Villa’s wage bill in the process.
Meanwhile, Calum Chambers was a shrewd free signing from Arsenal who would have commanded a sizeable signing-on fee and inflated wages.
Everton, who of course replaced Rafa Benitez with Frank Lampard, also dug deep to change the face of their squad in January.
Full-backs Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson commanded more than £30m between them, while Donny van de Beek and Anwar El Ghazi were loan additions in need of decent fees too.
Dele Alli may have been free from Tottenham Hotspur, but his wages will make up for no fee along with the clauses which could ramp the ultimate price up.
The challenge for each of these sides, along with a new manager in Everton’s case, is to get these new faces gelling and making an impact to then quickly deliver on their fees.
While Leeds deal with getting bodies fit, they know their tactical strategy off by heart at all levels. See Leo Hjelde and Lewis Bate’s seamless transition in the capital last month.
It will make for a fascinating early test of two contrasting approaches.
