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Our View: Two years on, Orta’s decision at Leeds looks absolutely right

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Eddie Gray (l), Angus Kinnear and Victor Orta of Leeds United look on from the direcors box during the Sky Bet Championship match between Stoke Cit...
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Matthew Pennington of Everton during the Pre-Season Friendly at Gigg Lane on July 18, 2018 in Bury, England. (Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Leeds United’s Victor Orta has come a long way in two years.

This summer, the Whites’ Director of Football spent some £30 million on signing centre-back duo Robin Koch and Diego Llorente.

It’s quite a contrast to two years ago when the Spaniard was mulling over whether to sign Matthew Pennington on a permanent basis after his loan at Leeds from Everton.

Pennington joined United for the 2017-18 campaign, but failed to impress Orta enough to warrant a permanent deal.

And what a good decision that looks to be now.

That’s because despite being 26, Pennington is now a regular for Everton – well, their Under-23 side.

The defender has started four games for the reserves so far this season and it’s just a perfect example of how his career has declined.

He spent the last two seasons with Ipswich Town and Hull City respectively, but the Toffees seemingly failed to get him another loan this past summer and he’s stuck with the reserves until January at the earliest.

Orta made quite a few mistakes during his first summer in charge of transfers, the summer Pennington was signed, but electing against keeping him at Elland Road a year later was certainly one he got right.

Everton’s Matthew Pennington (Reuters)