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Incoming Leeds United manager Javi Gracia has already been compared to Diego Simeone

Darko Kovacevic has compared incoming Leeds manager with Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone.

The are reporting that Gracia is the man set to end the Whites protracted managerial search, coming in initially until the end of the season.

Leeds have exhausted a host of other options before turning to Gracia, who has Premier League experience from his time with Watford.

That may feel a bit underwhelming for the fans, who are now looking to find out what the new man in the dugout is like.

Valencia C.F. v Atletico De Madrid - La Liga
Photo by Jose Miguel Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images

New Leeds United manager Javi Gracia compared to Diego Simeone

A piece from the in 2018 spoke to former Serbian striker Kovacevic, who played with both Simeone and Gracia.

He said: “He was always talking, correcting, organising. He understood the mechanisms, tactically he was sharp, a leader.

“Sometimes, like with Diego Simeone who I played with at Lazio, you know they have something. Javi had that. I have a lot of faith in his ability.”

Gracia has faced Simeone so far, and the Spaniard has only won twice, the most recent of which was in 2015, when his Malaga side beat Atletico.

The pair both play a similar, disciplined 4-4-2 formation which puts emphasis on working hard and being compact and solid defensively.

That looks to be a sea change from Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch, although he did guide Watford to the 2019 FA Cup final, and if Leeds are there in 18 months time, they would be elated, so long as they have retained their Premier League status in the meantime.