Leeds United director of football Victor Orta has confirmed that there has been major interest in striker Jay-Roy Grot this summer after it was agreed that the Dutchman would join VVV Venlo on loan.
The Whites announced on their official website on Thursday that 20-year-old Grot has joined the Eredivisie club on a season-long deal after an underwhelming debut season at Elland Road in 2017/18 as he frustrated some fans with his lacklustre displays, for both the first team and the Under-23s.
However Orta has shown that he and Leeds are not about to give up on the young Dutchman just yet and hope that his spell at VVV will help his development.
“A lot of clubs have shown interest in taking Jay-Roy on loan this summer and we have worked hard to analyse each option to find the best solution for the player and for our club,” said on the club’s official website.
“We believe that Jay-Roy has a strong future ahead of him and we feel that regularly playing games is going to be a key part of his development.
“We wish him every success this season and we are confident he can only benefit from this experience.”
OPINION
Grot is still young but his lack of pace and inability to see out a game in both the first team and reserves is a worry. He made 22 appearances in all competitions for Leeds United last season, and scored just one goal, however the bulk of his game-time came from the bench and maybe a starting role will help him develop. Hopefully he will be able to improve himself at VVV, who are starting to steady themselves in the Eredivisie after a few years in the second-tier of Dutch football. Orta has taken the correct decision to send him out on loan rather than give up completely and sanction a permanent sale, unlike with his team-mate Pawel Cibicki, who should have really been offloaded for good rather than sent on a temporary deal to Molde. Leeds look like they may continue loaning out some of the flops of last summer. Who will be next out of the door?