Manchester United v Leeds United - Marcelo Bielsa press conference on 'resolved' Whites contract and Diego Llorente injury

The Whites will lock horns with the Red Devils in a Saturday lunchtime showdown at Old Trafford and Bielsa will be facing the media from 1pm today.

We will bring you all the latest news from Bielsa's first press conference of the season here once the press conference has finished.

German international Robin Koch is then due to speak to the media after Bielsa.

Have you signed a new contract, if not then when?

"Good afternoon to everybody. The contract situation is one that is already resolved. It's a subject that is resolved."

On Llorente and Firpo

"Firpo is available and Llorente isn't."

On Llorente

"It is subject to his evolution but it will be one or two weeks more."

Do you need to add more players - what about O'Brien?

"I am satisfied with the group that I am working with."

Any more incomings?

"I couldn't tell you because it is a hypothetical situation. But what I can tell you is that the group of players that I have I am happy with."

What would be success?

"Normally I answer these questions in the same way. My position is not to refer myself to things that haven't happened because I don't want to run the risk where the reality doesn't coincide, especially in a sport like football which is very unexpected."

On Man U

"Every game in the Premier League is complicated."

Will they be competing for the title?

"I can't refer myself to the reality of teams that are not mine."

On Phillips - the next step for him

"He had a great performance in the Euros, he was an important part of a team that performed to a high level and this is very difficult to achieve."

What next?

"I wouldn't know how to give you a correct response."

On Messi to PSG

"It was a totally unexpected news that surprised me like everyone else."

Any more on the contract? One year?

"One year is habitual."

Work over the summer

"From my point of view this is an extraordinary club. It's not often that you have a club that designates so much volume of investment to the improving of the training. In this sense Leeds have made a significant contribution economically for the tools for the manager to prepare his players to be the ideal ones. Everything that we need in this area, the club has resolved it with a very high investment, whether it be the pitches, the facilities, the technology, commodities for the work of the players and in this sense I am very astounded by the conduct of the club."

On Shackleton

"He has recovered, he is well and he is available"

On signing Firpo and Klaesson

"Very happy. They are very well thought out decisions, very revised, very analysed. And we think that all the conditions are there for them to have a good time at Leeds. That's another segment of this club that functions with very high professionalism. For a long time I have been working in professional football now and very few times have I ever seen a club so well looked after like it is here to decide when we sign a player, There is a marked evolution in this field of work because in every year the club has reduced the amount of professionals and incorporated very few. This year is yet another example that many more players have left than those who have arrived, that means the players at the club we consider them sufficient and adequate and that there is a very prolific and fertile contribution from the academy constantly through the work of the under 18s and under 23s. Those are the ones that I see but there is surely more work done in the lower levels, they always have responded to the needs that present themselves. In terms of the organisation, I consider that Leeds is an example and I focused the responsibility, Victor Orta is the one who structures the arrival of players and the director of the academy and the technical staff of the 23s give nutrients to the first team and the president the owner of the club who makes investments that he could easily ignore."

The evolution of the club - how important in you staying?

"Of course. I think the most important coaches that world football has would value what this club means in terms of organisation, structure and the public. Obviously I don't ignore that there is another step. That there is another step to be able to get these players that triple in value that Leeds can obtain and I understand that this type of power we have to consider it and take it into account because I insist that the powerful clubs are not there for no reason. But what I say is what Leeds produces."

What is the next step?

"I didn't speak about the next step for Leeds. Just what the next step is."

On the squad being ready for the new season

"Now I understand what you mean with regard to the next step. I didn't make that reference, what I think about the evolution of the team is that as time goes on and the work continues there exists the possibility that to polish the things that couldn't be previously done because there wasn't enough work time. If it was the other way and we managed to achieve this we would manage to overcome the previous mistakes that Leeds have been in but the development of the style of play is not the only aspect that allows the growth of the team. After you have to maintain the enthusiasm, the ambition, the desire to grow, take on board the expectations that can generate from the public. There is a very special moment in the development of the team where the recognition of what happened before, it disappears and the demand for what happens next increases. And that all of the teams have the fortitude to resolve this."

The public - having fans back

"Very happy, without the public, the main destination, it is not the same, and those who assist the game they are a special category. They generate a link between what has happened . It's not the same as the spectators, they like what they see on the pitch than those fans who suffer for the result. That segment of the public on football you can find anywhere in the world people who want to see a Premier League game. But there isn't 5 million people who suffer when Leeds lose or who get excited beyond belief with a win and the heart of the football are the genuine fans of Leeds United. The spectators of the world is what sustains the business. But those who suffer or get excited beyond belief for the results are what football is."

On playing Man U on the opening weekend

"I don't consider it significant. A game like the one at the weekend is independent, it doesn't matter when it is played, it has a life of its own at any time"

On Shackleton and Forshaw

"Shackleton can play as a full back or an interior midfielder and a year on he increases his hierarchy in the group. Forshaw hasn't played for two years and up to now he has played 60 minutes without any problems but we consider the process for his definitive recovery a longer one even if he is available and useful in the immediacy."

On the changes at Thorp Arch over the summer

"Thorp Arch a year on has been improving. And the focus of some needs that weren't resolved and free spaces which previously couldn't be used have been made into spaces that can be used with grass. One pitch has undersoil heating so that in the winter there is no problem with training regards to snow or the weather, the facilities have been improved so that that can happen with two other pitches in the future and there is a path being created for the machinery that does the the work around the pitches so that it doesn't damage the pitches and after there is a lot of more minor details that make the options for work to be be better. All of this is done with a lot of professionalism and the director of the club and those in charge of construction have been impeccable in their work."

On Phillips

"He has done a different type of work, a more brief one, the preparation time that he had was half of his team mats but has has done this in a very serious manner with a lot of dedication and he is in condition to have options to participate but it is natural that the team he needs to prepare is not completed yet."

On losing Alioski

"Very sad. Due to the football part of course but on the humane part specifically, I have a lot of affection for Alioski. I know that he wanted to continue and the club wanted him to continue but after there are negotiations and interests and after these are over the affectionate part and then these are mixed with economical things and mixed with things of this nature. To summarise I think the club wanted him to continue and he wanted to stay and it was a negotiation that didn't crystalise. But it doesn't resolve that the link there is between Alioski and Leeds and Leeds and Alioski."

Longest time spent at a club - are Leeds now second most dearest to you after Newell's?

"There are answers I would like to give when I no longer work here. Because being inside the institution you run the risk that the answers are demagogued and that they are interpreted by way of sympathy for the fans. I think that after you belong to an institution is the moment to refer yourself to the feelings that have taken place."

On pre season

"Given that it is the fourth year, the method that we use to work generates tiredness, if you do similar things for a long time it is natural that you get bored of it. In this pre season we tried to substitute all the exercises, the way in which we transmit them, the way we demonstrate how we do them so that there was some sort of novelty or evolution in the resources that we use. But the objective is always the same, to try to make better what we think should be done."

Did the 6-2 loss at Old Trafford benefit you in the long run?

"The answer is no. We recognised before and after defensive problems that we had to solve. These stats or data that you have given show that in the second half of the season the team evolved defensively but I don't have that game set out as the game that we started to improve defensively as we were making improvements and before and after."

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/yorkshire-evening-post-launch-leeds-united-only-digital-subscription-ahead-premier-league-campaign-2967964

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Thank you Laura Collins