Pitches made by Victor Orta to Leeds United’s new signings consistently come up in the interviews they give after their Elland Road arrivals. The director of football has pulled the strings on Whites recruitment for five years and had an especially busy start to this summer.
Six new faces were added to Jesse Marsch’s squad before it flew out to Australia in mid-July and he has since brought in Sonny Perkins and Joel Robles too. While there remains a clamour for the left-back and striker the club have openly stated their interest in, there is satisfaction too with the work done in softening the blows of key exits this summer.
It remains to be seen whether Orta does move on those two remaining gaps in the squad, but Marsch has opened up on his excitement before those famous pitches the Spaniard makes. The American has been consulted on all of the deals made during this window and he’s been highly impressed with the unique angle Orta finds with each and every prospect.
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Marsch was asked about the culture shock of playing in the Premier League for some of his new faces on Saturday, but he reflected on the original recruitment as the best filter for edging out those who would not cope at this level. He said: “Well, there's the Premier League, and then there's playing at Elland Road, which we love, right?
“Even in the recruitment process, speaking to all the players that came in, it was just trying to explain and translate the feeling of what it means to play for this club. I knew it because I knew the history, but I didn't know it. I had a crash course on what that means.
“One of the things that's amazing, is if you would sit and listen to Victor Orta in these meetings with prospective players and the way he's able to, and this is why I'm here, explain to me statistically, mentality-wise, playing style-wise, [the] mentality of the city and the club, why it's special here and why certain people fit and should come and make the decision to be here.
“He is an incredible recruiter. I look forward to every time we sit down with a prospective player to see what kind of twist he has on exactly what the player is and who the player is and why they belong here.
“When Victor does such a good job of finding the right kind of people, then it makes the adaptation in every way a little easier.”
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