Relegation is not as great a threat for Leeds as it remains for others although the prospect of dropping further down the table is not impossible given the runs of games coming up. Leeds are currently 15th on 23 points, six above the relegation zone, and have played one fewer game than Norwich City in 18th position. The heavy defeat to Everton on Sunday, now one point behind with a game in hand, was a blow, especially given Newcastle United’s upturn in form.

Leeds are on the brink of a difficult sequence of games – starting on Sunday at home to Manchester United and then Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City before a critical home game against Norwich on March 12. Telegraph Sport reported earlier this month that as well as Marsch, the former Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde as well as Huddersfield Town manager Carlos Corberán had also been considered as potential successors. Marsch is now understood to be the favourite.

Marsch has been on a sabbatical since his departure from RB Leipzig where a squad built to the requirements of his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann struggled to adapt. Nevertheless, on Dec 7, two days after Marsch left Leipzig following three straight league defeats, his side beat a strong Manchester City team at home, a result that looks ever more impressive as the season develops.  

There is also understood to be interest in Marsch from Spanish Liga’s Athletic Club Bilbao should they decide to make a managerial change, which may come as a result of presidential elections this summer.

Marsch built a strong reputation in his native US as a player, where he won two MLS titles with DC United and another at Chicago Fire at the start of his playing career. As a manager he won the 2015 Supporters’ Shield – the league title – with New York Red Bulls, losing out in the subsequent MLS play-offs at the semi-final stage. That Red Bulls association saw him appointed by Red Bull Salzburg where he won league and cup doubles in Austria in 2020 and 2021.