According to an exclusive report by The Telegraph, Leeds United have approached Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce to see if he is interested in their vacant managerial vacancy.
The Yorkshire outfit sacked Paul Heckingbottom at the start of the month following a disappointing return of just four wins from his 16 Championship matches in charge, and former Argentina and Chile national team manager Marcelo Bielsa is the frontrunner to replace him, as per The Telegraph.
However, if that deal proves to be too difficult to arrange then the Whites, whose fans are excited on Twitter by a link to a 22-goal striker, could look elsewhere, and Bruce is something of an obvious candidate given the uncertainty surrounding the Midlands club right now following the play-off final defeat against Fulham.
The 57-year-old could be tempted to walk away from Villa Park given the club’s financial issues and the fact that they may have to cash in on some of their star men like Jack Grealish and James Chester, and the role with the Whites could therefore be a tempting one.
The former Hull City chief has certainly managed many players during his managerial career, and some of those appear to really enjoy working under the former Manchester United defender.
Here are three stars with strong Bruce connections that would be perfect Leeds signings…
Leeds are in desperate need of bringing a new centre-back to Elland Road this summer seeing as they have no senior players to call upon in that position beyond Pontus Jansson and captain Liam Cooper – who perhaps isn’t good enough to start for a club that is aiming for promotion.
If Bruce was appointed as Heckingbottom’s successor, he should look to be reunited with Davies, who appeared on more than 100 occasions in all competitions under him during the duo’s time with Hull City.
The 33-year-old’s future with Derby County may be in doubt following their play-off defeat and Gary Rowett’s subsequent departure, and having played all but seven minutes of their 46-match Championship season and captained them on occasion, his leadership and overall experience would be perfect for the Yorkshire outfit.
Leeds fans would have been hugely disappointed when the Scotland international left for Norwich City in 2012, but they perhaps would have understood that he wanted to play Premier League football.
The 30-year-old is certainly a legend at Elland Road having scored 41 goals and provided a further 40 assists in 187 appearances in all competitions for them prior to his move to the Canaries, and he showed during a loan spell under Bruce at Villa Park last season the huge impact he can have at this level.
The West Ham United winger scored eight goals and provided a further 13 assists in 40 Championship fixtures during the regular campaign for Villa, and if he could match those numbers on his return to the Yorkshire club it would aid their top-six ambitions.
The young striker enjoyed a breakthrough 2017/18 campaign for Villa under the tutelage of Bruce as he made 30 senior appearances for the Championship outfit.
In Jonathan Kodjia’s absence, the 20-year-old stepped up to the plate and led the line for the Midlands outfit time after time in 2017, and he ended the season with two goals and four assists in 28 league outings.
He found himself down the pecking order when Kodjia returned from injury and Lewis Grabban signed in January, but Bruce will know all about the impact he can make and Leeds are certainly in need of a new target man – and striker in general – with the likes of Caleb Ekuban, Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot all failing to impress, and Pierre-Michel Lasogga returning to Hamburg after a disappointing loan spell.
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