Barry Douglas, I owe you an apology, says Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa

The Scot joined Championship side Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan on deadline day, leaving the Whites without a specialist senior left-back. Like coach Bielsa, Douglas joined the club in the summer of 2018, from Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the defender has made just 27 league starts, with the versatile Stuart Dallas preferred in that position.

Even so, the Argentinian declared himself “very sad” to see Douglas depart, with sporting director Victor Orta writing an open letter praising the 31-year-old’s contribution to the dressing room.

“It makes me very sad that he has left our team because during the two years he has been with us he has made a significant contribution and he’s an impeccable professional and a very respected member within the team,” said Bielsa.

“At left-back I opted for Dallas, (Ezgjan) Alioski and (Leif) Davis ahead of Douglas.

“They’re decisions I have to make. For me they have been very difficult. Douglas deserved to play for Leeds and he gave his all to achieve this. I wasn’t able to help him enough for him to consolidate himself in our team.

“He’s a player who has given huge effort and I regret a little bit that he wasn’t able to triumph with us.

“Finally it was decided between myself, the club and Douglas that he should leave for Blackburn. I wish him all the best because he really deserves it. He is a player who is full of virtues and has done some very important things for us.”

At times Douglas was his own worst enemy, and Bielsa cited the March 2019 game against Millwall where he played with a season-ending injury because Leeds had used all three substitutes as an example.

“I can’t forget that he played a game for us where he had a knee injury for half an hour,” said Bielsa. “That’s not very common. He thought about the team before himself and he put at risk his knee, which is a very complicated place for a player to get injured.”

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James Mitchinson