Red Bull International Soccer have identified Leeds United’s Victor Orta as a candidate to fill the club’s vacant technical director role, The Independent understands.
Red Bull, who are renowned for their intelligent recruitment and scouting network, are considering candidates for the role after Paul Mitchell, who joined from Tottenham in 2018, left to become sporting director at AS Monaco earlier this month.
Orta, who began his career at Sevilla working under revered talent spotter Monchi, joined Leeds as technical director in 2017 after spells at Zenit St Petersburg, Elche and Middlesbrough. The Spaniard was instrumental in Leeds’s appointment of Marcelo Bielsa, whom Orta had attempted to hire on two previous occasions, and has since presided over 30 signings at the club.
They have inevitably come with varying degrees of success, although the club has garnered an impressive reputation for winning the race to sought-after loan signings, including Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah and Brighton’s Ben White, while a deal for the then Swansea winger Daniel James collapsed on deadline day in August 2019.
Orta worked closely with RB Leipzig in the January transfer window as Leeds signed French striker Jean-Kevin Augustin on loan.
Leeds are on the verge of securing promotion to the Premier League, with the club level on points with West Bromwich Albion at the top of the Championship table, seven points clear of third-place Fulham.
