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Leeds United’s pursuit of Rayo Vallecano head coach Andoni Iraola has ground to a halt after sporting director David Cobeño claimed Los Franjirrojos’ boss had ‘given his word’ to remain at the Madrid-based club

Iraola now looks set to stay at Estadio de Vallecas until the end of the season when his contract is due to expire with the LaLiga club.

Leeds had earmarked the Basque coach as a potential successor to Jesse Marsch after the American was sacked last week but the 40-year-old remains focused on his task at Rayo – at least until his deal comes to an end in the summer.

Rayo are currently sixth in Spain’s top flight and could qualify for European competition next season if they continue on their present trajectory. Iraola guided the team, based in the Madrid suburbs, to promotion from the second tier two years ago, before delivering a 12th place finish last season.

GETAFE, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 12: Andoni Iraola, Head Coach of Rayo Vallecano, looks on prior to the LaLiga Santander match between Getafe CF and Rayo Vallecano at Coliseum Alfonso Perez on February 12, 2023 in Getafe, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Sporting director Cobeño has said in the wake of Leeds’ interest that the club intend to open talks with Iraola over the possibility of extending his contract beyond this summer, but acknowledge the difficulty in fending off interest from other clubs.

Had Leeds been successful in their ploy to land Iraola, the club would have had to part with a fee understood to be in the region of £7 million, which is Iraola’s release clause. However, Iraola is believed to have turned down the opportunity at this moment in time, opting to remain with Rayo, according to Cobeño.

“Andoni has a clause, like the majority of the employees of the club, in terms of footballers and coaches. From that point, we refer [teams] to the clause.”

“From there, the decision of Andoni was clear, and he has given us his word until the end of the season. Sometimes a person’s word weighs more than money, and Andoni has shown as much,” the sporting director told Radio Marca.

Leeds invited Dutch coach Alfred Schreuder to Elland Road last Sunday, as they continue in their attempts to name a permanent replacement for Marsch, however talks did not progress beyond an initial stage with the recently-sacked Ajax coach who is no longer in the running. Michael Skubala remains in caretaker charge of the team.

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