According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are looking to sign some unpolished gems once again in the transfer market.
The Whites’ main successes in terms of transfers in recent years have been when signing relative unknowns who haven’t been spotted by the bigger clubs yet.
The likes of Illan Meslier and Raphinha are two true success stories – while the YEP also put Tyler Adams into this discussion, although Adams was rather well-known during his time at New York Red Bulls before falling slightly off the radar with RB Leipzig.
Victor Orta certainly has an eye for emerging talent, and apparently, he’s on the lookout for the next bargain player who has the potential, like Raphinha, to play for a top club.
Of course, the 26-year-old joined Barcelona from Leeds this summer.
Making these sorts of signings is the goal of every Sporting Director on the planet, and this is easier said than done.
Indeed, for every Raphinha and Meslier, you have a Junior Firpo and Daniel James, sometimes players who seem to have big potential don’t quite cut it.
However, while Orta’s actual business has been hit and miss at times, his talent identification is second-to-none.
Let’s not forget, if Leeds had been a bit more pro-active in the past, they would have had two World Cup stars in their team by now – Josko Gvardiol and Rodrigo De Paul were both identified as targets before they got their big moves to Leipzig and Atletico Madrid respectively, so Orta does know how to sniff them out.
Even this summer, Cody Gakpo was targeted before his stock rose exponentially, and that would have had the potential to be another Raphinha-esque signing.
Orta has a job on his hands emulating his former successes, but given that Leeds have targeted the likes of Gvardiol, De Paul and Gakpo in the past, perhaps he does have a few more tricks up his sleeve.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
