Leeds United managing director Angus Kinnear has moved to defend the club’s recruitment policy after their alarming drop in form saw them drop out of the Championship play-off places.
The summer saw a complete overhaul of Leeds’ transfer structure, with Victor Orta taking the reigns as the director of football.
Orta, who oversaw a controversial as head of recruitment at Middlesbrough, has taken a more continental approach to transfer business, with only three of the 14 summer recruits being British.
The only standout success so far has been attacking midfielder Samu Saiz, who was bought from Huesca in the Spanish second division.
A couple of other signings, most notably German striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga, have also made an impact, but most have been inconsistent and have struggled to adapt to life in England.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Kinnear defended the club’s new policies, confident that their moves will pay off in the long-term.
He said: “The success of the recruitment has to be viewed through the perspective of building the club for the medium term. Some of the signings have had an immediate impact. Some of them were always going to be for the longer term.”
Kinnear also spoke about his relationship with Orta, and the impact that the Spaniard has had on their transfer dealings.
“I’ve been very impressed with him. His scouting knowledge is second to none but it’s not just an individual skill. He’s built a framework here and the quality of a club’s recruitment set-up is probably the single-biggest competitive advantage you can create in British football.
“The system Victor’s put in place and the scouting talent he’s hired will definitely give Leeds a competitive advantage. Is it going to manifest itself in the first five months? Definitely not. But I do think that in two or three years, people will look back and say that what Leeds have created on the recruitment front is special,” he explained.
OPINION
There is no doubt that Leeds are building for the future with their new signings, with goalkeeper Andy Lonergan now the only player in the squad over 30. However, Leeds fans have been waiting for success for so many years that some may be getting impatient with their lack of progress. The recruitment of players for the future is all well and good, but there needs to be some thought for the present and the need to reclaim their place in the Premier League. While this squad may indeed go on and do that with the young players they have, Orta’s lack of success at Middlesbrough could be a warning sign that this wave of recruitment is another false dawn for a club that has been out in the wilderness for too long.