Bielsa, his staff, first team players and senior management all volunteered for the deferral, which will also safeguard the Elland Road business according to the club. The 64-year-old's acts of generosity are well known in his native country. Roman Lucht wrote in his book Life for Soccer: Marcelo Bielsa that when the Whites head coach was a young man at Newell's Old Boys, his good friend Roberto Agueropolis was struggling to finance the completion of his house so Bielsa offered his entire salary to his fellow defender, insisting he could wait to be paid back when Agueropolis was able. Childhood friend José Falabella revealed in the documentary Discovering Bielsa, that he too had benefited from an act of generosity. Bielsa, unprompted, paid for a specialist in artificial fertilisation, when the Falabellas struggled to get pregnant. And when the treatment did not work, Bielsa paid for a second session. "'Go again. Forget about silver. Everything is going to be fine," he told his friend. Bielsa, who often hands out sweets to youngsters who greet the Leeds United team coach on arrival at Elland Road for matchdays, became godfather to Falabella's daughter. More recently he financed the building of a hotel within the grounds of Newell's training base on the outskirts of Rosario. ESPN reported that Bielsa put £2.5m into the project, which was designed by his architect sister Maria Eugenia."He could've stepped up and said, 'Here's the project, I want them to do this and here is the two and a half million [dollars],'" said head of construction for the hotel Jose Luis Conde to ESPN FC. "He took an extra step and committed his family ... so it's not just the economic part, it is total commitment in saying 'I'm handing over a finished product.' It's different than handing over the money and nothing else." Bielsa brushed off the magnitude of his gesture, saying it was he who was in debt to the club and not the other way round. "From the club who formed me, I received more from Newell’s Old Boys than what I gave to them,” he said. “I’m actually paying a debt to Newell’s Old Boys rather than making a gift. “Two things are important: the quality of players and the quality of the preparation they receive. Infrastructure means you can improve the preparation.”
