Angus Kinnear has pulled back the curtain on one of the key recruitment strategies Victor Orta and Leeds United have got right with their Premier League return.
In typically light-hearted fashion, the chief executive had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek while penning his programme notes for Aston Villa’s visit today.
Raphinha was at the heart of his latest chuckle, but it came at the end of a wider point he stressed around adaptability in Orta’s new recruits, the ability to hit the ground running.
Kinnear is certain the Brazilian, Robin Koch, Rodrigo and Diego Llorente have all proved the director of football right in that regard.
“One of the key filters Victor and his team apply to our recruitment process is a projection on the speed of adaptation to the rigorous and style of the Premier League,” he said.
“This was in place even when we were in the Championship (Patrick Bamford, Mateusz Klich and Jack Harrison being prominent examples), but was particularly vital in our first season back.
“We knew we were facing a 50 per cent statistical probability of immediate relegation, and so the margin for error in our summer trading was smaller than it will ever be.
“To a man, our new recruits have adapted effortlessly to their new environment with the possible exception of Raphinha, but once he finally gets going I still believe we might have a half-decent player on our hands.”
