Will the Spanish connection at Leeds bring in another new face?

While Leeds United fans go another weekend without knowing who will be the next manager at the club, the upper management at the club is moving on, looking to add to the Spanish connection at the club, with the rumored hiring of scout Dani Salas from La Liga club Sevilla.

With Ivan Bravo, formerly of Real Madrid, now on the board and new Director of Football Victor Orta, also formerly of Sevilla, in charge at the club, a lot of new faces are to be expected at the club. Reports out of Spain indicate that Orta has found a new face for the backroom staff at Elland Road. Dani Salas, who reportedly was the scout in charge of Portugal and South America for Sevilla, is apparently set to trade Andalusia for Yorkshire. Salas and Orta would have worked together at Sevilla before Orta moved first to Zenit St Petersburg and then Elche CF before coming to England and landing at Middlesbrough.

What does this mean for the new manager at Leeds? Probably not a whole lot. It is interesting, though, that Orta appears to be bringing in people that he worked with before in Spain at Sevilla. Sevilla has been extremely successful in the past decade or so, with a number of big name players coming in and leaving on big-money transfers, with players such as Dani Alves and Jesus Navas playing on the 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup winning teams. Leeds could do worse than to imitate the scouting success of Sevilla.

So while improving the scouting system at Leeds won’t necessarily pay off in the next year or two, it is heartening to see that the new owner, Andrea Radrizzani, is committed to investing in the club. An owner that is in for a short spell or looking to make a quick buck wouldn’t spend money trying to improve the long-term health of the club. It’s moves like these, while small and won’t necessarily grab a lot of attention, that make the difference between a club that will be a tourist in the Premier League and a club that could try and become a permanent fixture in the top flight.