Leeds United director of football Victor Orta has told TMW that he is expecting a ‘quiet’ January this season.
During the interview, Orta answered many questions on various different topics but most importantly he opened up about Leeds’ plans for this January window. The Spaniard said: “In January there are few options and they have a certain type of matrix.” When suggesting the possible targets have a ‘certain type of matrix’, perhaps this is due to the uniqueness of life under Marcelo Bielsa?
His plans for the window won’t, perhaps, overly excite many fans: “We need intelligence, I can say that it will be a quiet market for Leeds. We have information and ideas but I believe little in the winter market.” He has also stated that “only 25% of winter shots are successful” meaning that he doesn’t expect many of the targets they do have to be joining.
TIF Tactics – What does this mean for Leeds United?
Leeds are currently in third place in the Championship, so they have started well but are no way near promoted yet.
It is important to remember that ‘quiet’ doesn’t mean zero, whilst Leeds are yet to lose any players so it will be interesting to see what happens if they do. Perhaps bringing in a proven goalscorer to challenge Patrick Bamford could be good, as the 26-year-old hasn’t been in great form lately, scoring just once in his last 10 matches, but some healthy competition could be exactly what he needs.
Should high-flyer Ben White be recalled, Bielsa will surely be wanting and needing his replacement as soon as possible. The 22-year-old currently holding the second-highest WhoScored rating in the whole squad, meaning his replacement will have to make an immediate impact, which likely wouldn’t come cheap.
Verdict
We are certain that fans will be disappointed with this latest news, as many of them are not looking forward to a repeat of last season. However, Leeds are in a good position right now and things do change fast in football, for all we know this could be a decoy for rival teams.