It has emerged this week that Leeds United are considering the appointment of a new sporting director ahead of what is likely to be an incredibly busy summer, if Leeds do go up.
Leeds are past the days of a one-man dictatorship that came in the form of Victor Orta. The Spaniard’s exit in 2023 saw Leeds change tact, and instead of one man running the show, they acquired a team.
Nick Hammond, Gretar Steinsson and Jordan Miles ran the rule at Leeds and the transition from Premier League to Championship. But Miles has left and Steinsson has been promoted within The 49ers.
Angus Kinnear is set for Everton at the end of the season and now, reports say Leeds are keen on hiring Samir Arabi. The German worked as director of football and sporting director at Bielefeld for 12 years.
Leeds have a chance of signing perfect Illan Meslier replacement
Arabi initially worked as the club’s sporting director for the first five years between 2011 and 2016 before becoming the sporting director, leaving Bielefeld in the summer of 2023 and remains out of work.
During that time, he re-signed Stefan Ortega in 2017. The German goalkeeper had left Bielefeld in 2014 before going back to the German club, playing there for the next five years and clocking up 172 games.
Now at Man City and labelled “incredible” by Pep Guardiola as per The National Post, Ortega is about to enter the last year of his contract and could be tempted by a move to another Premier League club.
Illan Meslier’s mistakes mean Leeds do need to look at bringing in a better option if they are promoted. Premier League safety over keeping Meslier as first choice, and Ortega would go some way to doing that.
Leeds need experience and Stefan Ortega provides that
There is no indication that Ortega would want to leave Man City but while he remains second choice, it is easy to imagine that he may prefer a move to another Premier League side where he would start.
Leeds need players that know the game, experienced ones that can be relied upon and at this moment in time, Meslier is not that. When Meslier does make a mistake, his past mistakes mean Leeds lose trust.
Having a goalkeeper like Ortega between the sticks would give Leeds a chance of fighting relegation if promoted, and having Arabi on board might just give Leeds a chance of doing a deal with the City ace.
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