Paraag Marathe has already put Victor Orta to shame with first Leeds transfer deal – opinion

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Leeds United are on the verge of making Chelsea midfielder Ethan Ampadu their first summer signing.

Ampadu is said to have travelled down to West Yorkshire yesterday to undergo a medical after the two clubs reached an agreement of £7 million + add-ons.

Given the vast amount of top-level experience Ampadu has at just 22, this is a significant coup for Leeds and will provide Daniel Farke with an excellent option in the middle of the park.

However, what is perhaps more impressive with this transfer is the fee in which Leeds will be paying. When reports first broke of Leeds’ interest in Ampadu broke, a price tag of £12 million was speculated, but a deal has been reached for significantly less than that.

This is already clear evidence of what Paraag Marathe could bring to Leeds, with the new Whites chairman renowned for his expertise in negotiations from over 20 years working at San Francisco 49ers.

Marathe has already put Orta to shame with first Leeds deal

Speaking in his first public interview on the Leeds United Podcast after receiving EFL approval, Marathe explained how negotiations has been his bread and butter in sport for so many years.

He said: “I’ve been the head negotiator [at 49ers] and still am. I’ve been the president and chief executive of a team, I’ve built a stadium, I’ve hired coaches, I’ve been through the troughs and the peaks of mountains, or almost peaks of mountains.

“I’ve seen it all and have a particular empathy for everybody’s job that I think will serve me well in this role. Just taking the football negotiations piece, yeah it took a long time to get approval, but to our supporters at Leeds, this is my life, this is my wheelhouse and what I do.

“I’ve been negotiating contracts in my sleep at the 49ers for a long time so to jump in and lend a hand with players and agents, yeah it’s a different shaped ball, but it’s very much the same.”

With that in mind, Marathe has already put Victor Orta to shame with his first deal, having seemingly shaved a significant amount of the initial quoted price tag for Ampadu.

When you compare that to Orta, who spent a combined total of £77 million on Rodrigo, Brenden Aaronson and Dan James, it really is night and day.

Hopefully there is significantly more good value deals done by Leeds during the remainder of the window to continually emphasise just how poor Orta was at most aspects of his job.