:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59469971/865028028.jpg.0.jpg)
Leeds United Director of Football Victor Orta has reportedly rejected a job offer from Deportivo La Coruña and will stay at Leeds next season.
Lots of speculation about Leeds United sporting director Victor Orta recently - Deportivo approached him last week but Orta has turned them down. Intends to stay at Leeds. The sporting director's job at Deportivo is going to another Spaniard, Carmelo del Pozo. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) April 21, 2018
Orta has courted controversy while at Leeds this past season. The former Middlesborough head of recruitment brought in a large number of new players during the summer transfer window, but most of the players have not worked out as the club seemed to go for a “quantity over quality” approach.
Loan deals for Matthew Pennington from Everton, Pierre-Michel Lasogga from Hamburger SV, and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson from Manchester United have all proven to be less than ideal, and none of them came close to replacing Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor, who both left for Burnley, and Kyle Bartley, who was recalled by Swansea City after his loan expired at the end of last season.
Samu Saiz was one of the few brilliant signings last summer, but even he has seemed out of step since returning from his six-game ban for spitting at a Newport County player during the FA Cup. Other signings, such as Caleb Ekuban and Pawel Cibicki, have failed to make an impact at the Championship level.
However, under Orta, the U18s and U23s have flourished, with the U18s winning their division today after a victory over Bolton Wanderers in their final regular season match. A number of U23 players have successfully made the transition to the first team in the last few weeks of the season
Many fans will be disappointed to hear the news that Orta has decided to stay at Leeds, as his reign as the Director of Football has not been ideal, with a large number of players signed to long contracts and the best player for Leeds this season, Pablo Hernandez, not signed up for another season.
If Leeds are to compete for the playoffs, or automatic promotion, then the recruitment this summer has to be much, much more successful than it has been so far.