Leeds United are about to suffer one final £30m Victor Orta disaster-class – opinion

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It is now almost two months since Victor Orta was sacked by Leeds United but they are still very much feeling the effects of his poor decisions.

After six years as the club’s sporting director, Orta was relieved of his duties in the wake of Leeds’ 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth at the end of April.

Orta has since found himself a new job in football in the same role at Europa League champions Sevilla, but his decisions at Leeds are continuing to leave a lasting damage.

Following relegation to the Championship last month, Leeds are preparing themselves for a mass exodus of players this summer, with departures set to go well into double figures.

Central defensive duo Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are almost certain to be two of those, and could well be some of the first to exit Elland Road.

Koch and Llorente departures hand Leeds one final Orta disasterclass

Koch and Llorente were signed by Orta in the first summer after Leeds were promoted in 2020, with both seen as replacements for Ben White, who the Whites were unable to sign permanently from Brighton after his loan spell.

Leeds paid over £30 million combined for the respective Spain and Germany internationals, but fast forward three years and that is looking like disastrous business.

Not only were both major parts of an extremely leaky defence, but it looking likely Leeds will receive nothing for either of their transfers this summer.

Llorente is on the verge of moving back to Roma on a season-long-loan, and at this stage it is unclear whether it will have an option-to-buy.

Koch, meanwhile, has interest from numerous clubs, but according to Phil Hay, is also highly likely to leave on loan, which would culminate in a free transfer next summer due to his contract situation.

Leeds were supposed to be implementing a strategy of buying players they can sell on for a profit in the future but are effectively set to lose £30 million on Koch and Llorente, which is ultimately a damning indictment of Orta’s work.