Some of Leeds United’s summer signings have failed to live up to expectation thus far.
Leeds United signed a number of new faces last summer, with some doing better than others, but despite coming in for plenty of criticism after an alarming dip in form, does the Whites’ director of football Victor Orta deserve more credit for only bringing in the likes of Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson on loan?
Lasogga had a great start to life at Elland Road but, despite adding three more goals to his debut brace, he has not impressed in recent months and does not possess the movement required to excel in this Leeds line-up.
Borthwick-Jackson has fared even worse, barely being seen despite arriving with a big reputation from Manchester United.
And yet, in both instances, they were low-risk moves that would not lumber Leeds with duds for the long-term. In fact with Lasogga, Orta even managed to convince his parent-club Hamburg to pick up his substantial wages.
The buck was always going to stop with the man tasked with signing the players, but many of Orta’s permanent additions have been impressive, most notably Samu Saiz but also the fast-improving Ezgjan Alioski and the raw talent that is Caleb Ekuban.
The Leeds supremo knew enough to sign that pair on long-term deals, while negotiating short-term moves for players who have looked anything but good investments to date.
If Leeds build on their recent win against Middlesbrough, the pressure on Orta will lift, but perhaps he deserves a little more credit regardless
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