Sky Sports pundit David Prutton believes that Leeds director of football Victor Orta deserves huge credit for the position that Leeds are in at the moment.
Talking on episode 46 of the Talking Shutt podcast (starts 42:00), Prutton was talking about the large number of players that have made the breakthrough into the first-team.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa was credited with a holistic approach to the first-team and the Under-23s, but Prutton was keen to point out Orta’s contribution here.
“It’s testament to Victor Orta’s job too,” Prutton said. “When this new ownership took over, the academy was an afterthought. It had been run into the ground and there were massive gaps in player talent there.
“He [Orta] has gone out and bought quite a few of the players we’re now seeing coming into the first team. We bought them at the Under-23 level.
“He doesn’t have a perfect record with the first-team. And there might be some from the Under-23s who haven’t made it. But ultimately most of his signings for the first-team have been good and Leeds are really reaping the rewards from the academy, and that was a really big rebuilding job.”
OPINION
Victor Orta was not seen in a good light last season by Leeds fan who blamed him for the first-team signings who didn’t make the grade, such as Joy-Roy Grot. However, he was working with very limited funds and it’s tough to blame him for what happened last season after Bielsa has come in and transformed the players that failed so miserably last campaign. The number of players that have come through from the Under-23s this season, to a table-topping side, has been extraordinary and it bodes really well for the future of Leeds. Jack Clarke, Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Jamie Shackleton have already made the breakthrough. Hugo Diaz and Robbie Gotts are two others who are knocking on the door. Bielsa has said that he really trusts Orta and the director of football, who doesn’t talk much in public, often doesn’t get the credit he deserves for such a forward-thinking philosophy.