London (EFE)
Gracia arrived at Leeds with the aim of saving the ‘Whites’ and, although the club is out of the relegation zone, in the twelve games he has coached he has only won three and lost twelve games. In addition, Leeds became the Premier League club with the most goals conceded in a single calendar month in April, after the wins against Arsenal (4-1), Liverpool (1-6), Crystal Palace (5- 1) and Bournemouth (4-1).
This was Gracia’s second experience in the Premier, after leading Watford between January 2018 and September 2019, with which he reached an FA Cup final.
Leeds is seventeenth in the table, with 30 points, the same as Nottingham Forest, which is in the relegation position, but has a worse goal difference. Those of Elland Road have left to play against Manchester City, Newcastle United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur to complete the league.
Gracia’s replacement at Leeds will be Sam Allardyce, who returns to the Premier after his last spell with West Bromwich Albion in 2021. Allardyce, who has trained 18 seasons in the elite and has only been relegated with West Brom, will be the fourth Leeds manager this year, after Jesse Marsch, Michael Skubala and Gracia.
Before firing Gracia, Leeds also announced the departure of Víctor Orta, the club’s sports director since 2017. The Spaniard was responsible for signing Marcelo Bielsa in 2018, with whom the ‘Whites’ promoted to the Premier League in 2020, In addition to being in charge of the transfer policy for players and coaches in recent years.