Victor Orta reveals why Leeds United’s new signing was loaned out.
Leeds United’s Director of Football Victor Orta has revealed to the club’s official website that the decision to loan out new signing Yosuke Ideguchi was linked to the fierce competition for midfield places at Elland Road.
The Japan international completed his move to Leeds this week but was immediately loaned out to Cultural Leonesa in the Spanish second division.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who is expected to go to Russia for the World Cup this summer, would have been competing with Kalvin Phillips, Eunan O’Kane, Ronaldo Vieira and Mateusz Klich for a spot in Leeds’ best XI under Thomas Christiansen had he stayed.
And Orta revealed to the Whites’ official website that he needs regular football for the sake of his World Cup chances.
He said: “We chose this moment to sign Yosuke because if he goes to the World Cup and does as well as we believe he can, then the competition for his signature would have been much higher.
“It is important that we anticipate the right moment to sign a player, we felt that waiting another six months could have been a risk – as we knew approaches had already been made by clubs in France and Germany and we have taken our opportunity.
“Yosuke has been in pre-season as the Japanese league ended in December and at this moment in time we already have good competition for places in our midfield.
“We have seen good performances from Eunan O’Kane, Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips, with Mateuz Klich also available for selection – therefore it might be hard for Yosuke to get the game time he needs in the build up to the World Cup.”
Some Leeds fans expressed their frustration over the decision to loan him out on Twitter this week, but Orta’s rationale makes sense.
Midfield is far and away Leeds’ strongest position in terms of quality and letting him challenge the likes of Vieira, O’Kane and Phillips would’ve been a major gamble on United’s part.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
