Rio de Janeiro, Nov 13 (IANS): Marcelo Bielsa, former Argentina and Chile football coach, has declined an offer to join Brazilian club Palmeiras.

Palmeiras' executive director Jose Carlos Brunoro told Uol that the Sao Paulo club was unable to meet the 58-year-old's salary demands, reports Xinhua.

"We have been looking at the position for a while and we thought that if we were going to change the manager, it had to be somebody from the outside of Brazil," Brunoro said Tuesday.

Palmeiras, who dropped to Brazil's Serie B for only the second time in their history last December, have already guaranteed their place in the top-flight next season.

Brunoro said current coach Gilson Kleina knew the club had a talk with Bielsa, who parted with Athletic Bilbao in June after two seasons with the Basque club.

"I went to speak to Bielsa and Kleina knows that. Now the negotiations are just with him (Kleinaz). We just have to finalize financial details," Brunoro added.