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Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan has urged Victor Orta to consider Marcelo Bielsa’s opinion when targeting new signings this summer.
Orta has been largely in charge of transfers at Elland Road since he was given the director of football job back in 2017, but Whelan believes it is time for that to change and that the manager should get just as much of a say.
What’s been said then?
The 43-year-old has given the man in charge of transfers at Leeds a piece of free advice.
“It’s important Mr Orta listens to Mr Bielsa,” Whelan told Football Insider.
“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.”
Has to change
Whelan is absolutely spot on with this view on the upcoming transfer window.
Last year Leeds’ transfers were dreadful, especially in the loan market. Izzy Brown, Lewis Baker, Jamal Blackman and Jack Harrison were all loaned in, and other than Harrison, none of those players had a real impact on the Yorkshire club’s season.
After Baker’s loan deal at Elland Road was terminated, Bielsa admitted that he wanted Baker to stay at the club, per Daily Mirror, but that he understood his reasons for wanting to embark on a new challenge.
But Bielsa’s kind words couldn’t mask what was a particularly underwhelming stint for the central midfielder, and it’s vital that comparable flops are swerved this summer.
Orta must get into the habit of running transfers by the manager before making a move or else he risks wasting a considerable amount of the club’s wage budget on players that aren’t going to get a game.