Noel Whelan has said that Leeds United director of football Victor Orta “has to listen” to head coach Marcelo Bielsa this summer if the club is to progress.
The Whites are aiming to go one better in their hunt for promotion next season, having been beaten by Derby County in the Championship play-off semi-final at Elland Road.
Leeds will need new additions if they are to achieve that aim in 2019/20, and, speaking to Football Insider, Whelan said that Orta and Bielsa must agree on who they want to bring in.
“It’s important Mr Orta listens to Mr Bielsa,” the BBC Radio Leeds pundit said. “The manager should be choosing who he wants going into his squad and who he wants going out of the squad.
“It is the job of the director of football to identify the players and handle the negotiations, with the manager having the final say over who comes in and out.
“Mr Orta has to listen. There is no point getting a player who the manager doesn’t want. It needs to be loan signings from Premier League who have a bit of quality.”
OPINION
It is an interesting point that Whelan raises, and one that those in the Leeds hierarchy should definitely consider. If Leeds are to progress, then the head coach and the director of football have to have harmony over the types of players they want to bring in. If they don’t, the relationship between the pair will become a stumbling block for the Whites and their activity in the transfer market – as well as their chances of promotion next term – could well be affected. One key kind of signing Whelan has pointed out that would be great for Leeds is Premier League players who are willing to drop down a level and fire teams to promotion. Dwight Gayle had a very good crack at it for West Brom during his move from Newcastle, and, despite the Baggies eventually not going up, the Englishman showed that this type of acquisition does work. But Leeds must not rely totally on the loan market. If they do, and the club does not go up, they will have had it as a lot of their key players will leave.