John Uriarte has been elected president of Spanish club Athletic Bilbao at the expense of Ignaki Arrichabalet, who promised to bring in Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa if he wins, the Basque club said.

The 44-year-old businessman was elected to a four-year term, which began with a short ceremony at the San Mames stadium in the presence of his predecessor, Aitor Elizig. He won 46.7% of the vote, ahead of Arrichabalet (33.7%) and Ricardo Barcala (18.1%).

“The coach who is presenting his candidacy for next season is the Argentinean Marcelo Bielsa,” Arichabaleta said at a press conference.

“I started thinking about giving a positive answer” to the offer made to me by Arichapaleta last March, Bielsa explained in a video shown during Arichapaleta’s press conference.

The 66-year-old coach previously coached Athletic Bilbao for two seasons from 2011 to 2013 and led him to the Europa League and Copa del Rey finals in 2012. In February last year, he was sacked by Leeds United.

Team coach Marcelino has expressed hopes to leave his post at the end of last season, while new president Ernesto Valverde is expected to bring the team a third experience after being sacked from Barcelona in training in January 2020.

Bilbao finished eighth in the Spanish Football League last season, failing to qualify for European competition.