Should Leeds United’s Victor Orta wait until Paul Heckingbottom is replaced before pressing ahead with signings?
It looks like Leeds United might be closing in on the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa. According to The Mirror, Leeds hope to name the veteran Argentine as their new head coach within the next seven days.
It would be quite a coup to appoint the former Marseille, Lazio and Lille coach, and should United wait until he arrives before pushing ahead with transfer business?
This time last year, Leeds were in the same position following Garry Monk’s shock departure, though United wound up hiring Thomas Christiansen on June 15.
But it did not stop Director of Football Victor Orta from signing players nevertheless, with the Spaniard signing up Hadi Sacko on a permanent deal after initially joining on a season-long loan under Monk.
However, it became clear that the 24-year-old, who started one Championship game last season, was not fancied by either Christiansen or his successor Paul Heckingbottom.
This is a player who Orta spent a decent bit of money on and although he may not be required to consult the head coach over signings, Leeds could have saved themselves £1.5 million [Yorkshire Evening Post] if Orta knew that Christiansen didn’t rate Sacko all that highly, which he clearly didn’t.
One would hope that Orta has his eye on quite a few players this summer, because Leeds will need them if they have designs on Premier League promotion, but the former Middlesbrough man should wait until Heckingbottom has been replaced before pressing ahead with any plans.
The Whites have enough deadwood as it is and consulting with Bielsa seems like an effective way to reduce the risk of repeating the same mistake.
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