Transfer sagas have long been part and parcel of a football manager’s job description. The management of them, what to say in public, what to say to the player, when to cut your losses and when to fight tooth and nail to keep your star.
Within a month of taking over at Leeds United, Jesse Marsch has already watched one particularly prominent transfer rumour catch light. That’s despite a wait of more than two months for the next window to open.
The American may have hoped he would get a clear look at the run-in without any distractions from on-the-pitch matters, but the international break was stuffed with daily reports from Spain about Raphinha, his agent Deco and Barcelona. This is the first transfer speculation brought to Marsch in his press conference and it was always going to be fascinating to see how he dealt with it after such a frank, honest, open and intelligent approach to speaking about tactics.
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With Marcelo Bielsa, we were used to either four or five words which shut the topic of transfer speculation down, or 10 minutes of chapter and verse which would reveal bids for the likes of Che Adams or how half of his squad were looking to leave Elland Road. Marsch addressed the matter head-on.
He did not hide, squirm or look for escapes from the matter at hand. After so much speculation and noise, it was important for fans to hear from a club employee what the situation was with their star player.
“My challenge, despite all of the things that are being said on the outside, is to have the type of relationship with him where he and I can focus on his development and [have] him doing everything he can to help the team and to continue to get better while he's here,” he said.
“I haven't said a word with him about Deco, Barcelona, any of these things. Everybody knows it's out there and, for me, as it should be because he's a fantastic, fantastic player.
“I want him to become the player I know he can. Everyone sees here how talented he is, how committed he is, how hard he can run, [and] how confident of a young man he is.
“You know, everyone here wants to enjoy the football we can play with him and, of course, we want to convince him to stay as long as we can because he's so good. He's a fantastic player and a really good person.”
Ultimately, as Marsch said in another section of his media briefing, his job is to coach the players while director of football Victor Orta gets stuck into the buying and selling of United’s assets. It would be quite easy for the head coach to duck and dive this topic, referring all enquiries to the offices at Elland Road.
On the contrary, Marsch embraced it and even encouraged the links because of the level Raphinha is playing at. Barcelona’s interest is a badge of honour in his eyes.
How many times have you seen a manager flustered in press conferences, shutting questions down, scolding journalists for daring to ask about a contracted player’s future? Marsch is controlling the controllables.
He has been around long enough to know a Brazil starter with two years on his contract in the bottom half of the Premier League is, more often than not, going to be intrigued by the idea of moving to a legendary European outfit. Until Raphinha calls for Marsch’s advice on signing a new deal at Elland Road, all the coach can do is squeeze the very best football out of the Brazilian while he is in West Yorkshire.
