Leeds United were tipped to be promotion favorites this season following last term’s emergence under Garry Monk. However, the departure of the Swansea City legend resulted in the appointment of little known Thomas Christiansen who, despite a decent inception in early months, failed to deliver later on that eventually led to his dismissal as the Whites boss. leeds are placed mid-table with no hope left for a playoff place and new boss Paul Heckingbottom has an uphill task now to reconstruct Leeds United prior to the next campaign.
Meanwhile, Victor Orta, club’s director of football, is reportedly a target of La Liga outfit Deportivo La Coruna who are currently in the drop zone and need a rebuilding similar to Leeds. Orta previously worked as a scout at Sevilla but was in the limelight while earning a Premier League promotion with Middlesbrough a couple of years back.
He was the brain behind business alongside manager Aitor Karanka at Riverside Stadium but the dismissal of the latter saw the Spaniard stepping down from his role too. Boro were poor in Premier League and the signings he made received criticism following their relegation.
Orta was soon acquired by Leeds United to work on the transfer deals above Christiansen and recruited some unfamiliar names like Felix Wiedwald, Caleb Ekuban, Samuel Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski, Laurens De Bock, Mateusz Klich etc in order to contest for a Premier League promotion.
Most of his deals, however, did not work out and the fans are also fuming over the Whites’ recruitment policy that failed them all season. Although the supporters are seeking his removal, Orta arguably has contacts and influence in wrapping up deals from top European leagues. He is a man in demand back in his Country and an offer from Deportivo La Coruna will be extremely hard to turn round.
The La Liga strugglers, reportedly, have shortlisted three options and Orta is the one alongside Levante’s Carmelo del Pozo and Las Palmas’ Luis Helguera who are also on the radar to be their new sporting director. Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani is quite popular at Elland Road due to his honest intent to carry the Peacocks forward and guide them towards a long-pending Premier League promotion. He opted to part ways with Christiansen but still believes in Orta’s influence in the transfer market.
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Heckingbottom, being well aware of Championship football, will provide his inputs while recruiting new resources and is expected to look for more well-known names this summer. Orta, thus, needs to team up with the new gaffer, understand his requirements and explore the market if he still stays in England next season. Heckingbottom has preferred academy starlets over the Spaniard’s recruits which reflects his discontent with the available options. This needs to be changed next season as the manager will have his opinions which should be the priority and the management must bank on the duo for the time being.
