Marcelo Bielsa on Leeds United's treatment of Adam Forshaw and why a replacement was not an option

Forshaw travelled to the US this week for surgery on a hip problem that has plagued him since pre-season. The operation, in Colorado, will end his 2019/20 campaign and begin a 'six month process' according to Bielsa.

Leeds tried all they could to avoid a surgical solution and the head coach is content with the club's care for the player, who he admits will maybe be nervous about the situation.

"The support that the club gave to him is difficult to do better," he said.

"Everything that we could do for him was done with a big enthusiasm by the club and the medical staff as well. Because they took care of him 100 per cent.

"[When it comes to medical detail] I prefer for the club to talk about it because it's not my speciality. The only thing I can say is that our medical staff did everything they could to try to help the player and gave everything to try to solve the situation."

Bielsa has coped without Forshaw since September using a number of players, even playing full-back Stuart Dallas in the centre.

Supporters have questioned why a decision wasn't taken to bring in a replacement for the central midfielder during the January transfer window.

But the head coach is satisfied that he already had solutions to the problem within the squad and alluded to the prohibitive financial cost of finding an adequate replacement in January.

"I would like to be able to count on Forshaw," he said.

"We resolve this situation with [Kalvin] Phillips, with [Mateusz] Klich but if we were thinking of bringing a player in we are always thinking it has to be a player better than him. Better means in every sense, not just in skills, resources, a player who is able to compete right now. We can only bring a player in like that paying a lot of money."