Orta lays into transfer guru - Marching On Together 30/3/22
Orta lays into transfer guru
In a recent radio interview, Leeds Director of Football
Victor Orta has hit out at Italian Sports Journalist Fabrizio Romano, for
repeatedly tweeting false information to millions of Leeds fans relating to a
release clause in Raphinha's contract. According to Ramano, the Brazilian ace
has two clauses in his contract, one if Leeds were to be relegated, and a
buyout provision. It is true, that if Leeds were to return to the Championship,
Raphinha could leave ER for as little as 20m, but rumours of a 65m buy out
clause have proved to be untrue. Speaking on Radio Marca, Orta was quoted as
saying...
Raphinha doesn’t have a clause if we stay in the Premier
League. I say this because a transfer guru said the other day that he had a
clause for an amount and he doesn’t. Sometimes the transfer guru is wrong. He
doesn’t have a clause if we stay in the Premier League. When the player knocked
on the door of Leeds, the first thing I said to him was, ‘you’re going to
invite me to the World Cup in Qatar’. And he looked stupid, he didn’t believe
it.
We’ve been meeting our goals and the player knows that Leeds
and his coaching staff, who have collaborated a lot, and the club has helped
his figure grow and has responded with great quality, being a differential
player in the league. He has to continue doing the same and in summer, when the
time comes, I’m sure there’s time for everything.
Fortunately, Raphinha’s career management is carried out by
a top-level player who knows how to handle this, which is Deco. I have had
several conversations with Deco. Deco helps me and I can’t say that everyone
helps. In this case, Deco knows that the current objective of the team that bet
on his footballer has only one name: save himself and stay in the Premier
League. Everything that is of the future will come.
David Villa convinced me to sign Jack Harrison
During his interview with Radio Marca, Victor Orta discussed
the 2018 Summer (loan) signing of Jack Harrison. The former Manchester City
youngster is fast approaching his 150th appearance for the Whites, but
according to Orta, things could have been very different had the top two
targets not turned him down.
Leeds first choice was Harvey Barnes. Everything was agreed
with the winger, but at the 11th hour, he changed his mind, and opted to sign
for the Baggies instead. Their second choice was Florian Jozefzoon, but
astonishingly, the Suriname International chose Derby County instead. Leeds
dodged a bullet there. His spell at Pride Park was unsuccessful, and he was
moved on to Rotherham. He now plays his football at Ligue 2 outfit US Quevilly.
With Jack Harrison, for example. Luckily, it’s gone pretty
well. We had Harvey Barnes locked down, he decided to go to West Bromwich on
loan at the very last moment. We had Jozefzoon, but he took the wrong train and
He went to Derby. And Jack was the third option. We believed in the method, in
decision-making, it must be admitted, David Villa convinced me.
In 63 Premier League appearances, Harrison has netted 13
times, and laid on nine assists!
Leeds linked with Barca flop
Several media outlets have linked Leeds with Barcelona
winger Trincao. The Portugese International winger, 22, joined the Catalan
giants in 2020 for 25 m, but as yet, has not rediscovered the form he showed
whilst at Braga. He has spent this season on loan at Wolves, and according to
the stats on 'Who Scored', has an average rating of 6.60, ranking him 17th out
of 24. His best performance for Bruno Lage's team was against Leeds several
weeks ago, where he scored his only goal of the season. Wolves have made it
clear that they are not interested in signing Trincao on a permanent basis.
Exciting stat shows Leeds are moving in the right direction
Leeds are averaging an xG (expected goals) tally of 2.07 per
game in Marsch’s four matches in charge, the most of any side in the Premier
League. xG is a metric that measures the quality of a goalscoring opportunity –
the higher it is, the better the chance of scoring! Apart from the Villa game,
Leeds are looking more like the team of last season. They have ridden their
luck at times in the last few games, but with the way the season has gone, they
are over due a lucky break!
