Leeds United candidate reveals 'meeting' with ex-Whites chief amidst warzone escape and 30-hour ordeal

The ex-Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk coach confirmed at a conference this week how former Leeds director of football Victor Orta was in contact as Bielsa's reign at Elland Road came to an end.

Leeds had begun to concede a concerning number of goals in games at the beginning of 2022, culminating in a 6-0 defeat at Anfield, leading the club hierarchy to accelerate their search for a successor to the veteran head coach and tactical innovator. Several candidates were considered, and spoken to, although few of their identities have been revealed, before the Whites eventually settled on Jesse Marsch.

Fonseca, 50, was living in Ukraine at the time, following his three-year spell with Shakhtar, for whom he won the league and cup double in each of his three seasons, and has confirmed Orta's approach, while sat alongside the Sevilla sporting director, who was also in attendance at the TransferRoom conference.

"We didn't talk much about the project itself. It was a quick meeting. He talked a lot about the club, the infrastructure, the culture of the club and the city. It was more about that," Fonseca said, as quoted by Portuguese outlet Record.

Orta subsequently corroborated Fonseca's comments: "I looked for Paulo Fonseca to replace Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. In addition to natural ability and leadership, there is also the emotional part. We have to believe that people have a positive emotional side. It was a productive conversation."

It is unclear on which date the pair held their meeting, or whether it was in person or virtual, but a mere three days before Leeds decided to part ways with Bielsa on February 27, war broke out in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, forcing Fonseca and his young family to flee.

The manager shared a video on social media detailing the situation from his Kyiv apartment, before heading to a Donetsk hotel owned by Shakhtar's Rinat Akhmetov, hiding out in a bunker there before embarking on a 30-hour journey into neighbouring Romania.

“We moved to the hotel there and stayed in a bunker there overnight, for one and a half days overall, with the Brazilian players from Shakhtar and the technical team," Fonseca told Sky Sports, quoted by The Independent.

“I started to think the situation was only going to get worse so we contacted the Portuguese embassy and they said, ‘Tomorrow we’ll have a car and you can go’. I decided to leave in the morning, the day after the car picked us up from the hotel and we started a long trip to the border. It was dangerous, we travelled all day and night without stopping.

Consequently, Orta's meeting with Fonseca is highly likely to have taken place prior to February 24, the day upon which Russia's invasion began, meaning Leeds were sounding out potential Bielsa replacements prior to the Whites' 4-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road which spelled the end for the revered coach.

Fonseca is now in charge at Ligue 1 club Lille and was also interviewed for the Newcastle United job prior to Eddie Howe's appointment in November 2021.