Leeds United haven’t always been the most frugal when it comes to additions through the door, with money rashly spent on plenty of duds over recent times.
The disastrous summer transfer window before a ball was kicked to start the 2022-23 season is proof of that, with the likes of Luis Sinisterra joining for a whopping £21m, only for the Colombian to make a paltry 26 appearances in West Yorkshire before relocating once more.
If you go further back in time to the days when sporting director Victor Orta was front and centre of all of the frantic business – with an equally eccentric Marcelo Bielsa at the managerial helm for most of his time at the club – the blunders do pile up even more.
But, the top buys that Orta managed to get over the line should also come into view.
The best Orta buys at Leeds
For every Kiko Casilla Orta managed to bring into the building, there were dozens of other success stories.
Names such as Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter immediately spring to mind, with the Spaniard overseeing a deal that saw Summerville join the West Yorkshire titans for just £1.5m from Feyenoord in 2020.
He would later leave for West Ham United for a mammoth £25m, after scoring stunners like the one above on a regular basis for Leeds in the Championship, notching up a frightening 31 goal contributions in league action last season as Farke’s men narrowly missed out on promotion.
Going back to the reign of Bielsa, however, and the likes of Mateusz Klich and Ezgjan Alioski stand out as unlikely heroes who were transformed into greats under the Argentine, with Klich having cost Leeds just £1.5m like Summerville due to Orta’s eye for a deal.
The Polish midfielder amassed 195 appearances in total at Elland Road, cementing himself as a mainstay of many XIs over his six-season stay in England.
Orta is also responsible for Wilfried Gnonto choosing Leeds as his next destination after leaving FC Zurich behind, in another stunning capture at just £3.8m
Yet, not everything went swimmingly with Orta as the main figurehead, with some players joining for way over the odds on expensive deals away from the Spaniard consistently striking gold.
The player that cost Orta £47m in total
Rodrigo join Leeds as a coup signing in the summer of 2020 from La Liga outfit Valencia, with Leeds forking out a club record £27m to win his services.
Whilst the aforementioned names of Summerville and Klich would grow to become stars for the Whites, an expectation was already on Rodrigo’s head to deliver as a statement purchase on his arrival, with the attacker going on to arguably underwhelm the Elland Road masses.
22/23
35
15
2
21/22
34
6
1
20/21
28
7
2
He would never develop into being a prolific finisher in West Yorkshire, with his best goal total in the Premier League coming in at a mediocre 13, as the Spanish forward ended his time in England with a sub-par goal tally of 28 from 97 clashes.
For a striker who cost £27m to snap up, the Whites masses must have been expecting more in terms of firepower from their ex-number 19.
This deal will feel like even more of an error when you consider his extortionate wage amidst these middle-of-the-road displays, earning a bumper salary of £100k-per-week and £5.2m-per-year as per Capology, which made him the highest earner at the club the three years he was present.
For context, that’s a far higher wage than both Gnonto and Joe Rodon find themselves on under Farke, with the Welshman earning just £40k-per-week whilst his Italian counterpart pockets a lesser £30k-per-week.
Remarkably, Rodrigo would be earning more than both their pay packets combined, with moments of magic like his thunderous strike above against West Ham United not common enough to justify his lavish salary or fee.
In total, Leeds would burn through £43m – when considering his £27m fee and his three-year wage costs – with many at Elland Road glad to see the back of the ex-Valencia man when he left for Qatar in the wake of the club’s relegation.
Farke and Co will try not to be so brash with their spending habits if they return to the Premier League at the end of this campaign, with a want for more shrewd deals to happen over expensive misfires.
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ByDan EmeryOct 15, 2024