Leeds United are set to make a huge decision ahead of the January transfer window.
Victor Orta was approved as director of football for the club in 2017. He was in charge for six years and departed in 2023. His time at the club saw a mix of success when it came to recruitment. Some of Orta’s best signings were Rodrigo and Raphinha, while some signings were forgettable like Robin Koch and Diego Llorente.
One thing fans at Elland Road can appreciate during his time at the club, was the youth recruitment policy. From 2017, Leeds signed a lot of promising young talents to develop for the first team. The likes of Pascal Struijk, Crysencio Summerville, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Leo Hjelde.
QUIZ: Can you name these 10 Leeds United players from the 2000s?
Leeds United to make a decision on star player
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Struijk is now the club captain and one of the best defenders in the league and Crysencio Summerville won EFL Championship player of the year after scoring 19 goals last season. Leo Hjelde and Ian Poveda are among some of the players who were recruited as part of Orta’s plan but left this summer in search of first team football.
Sam Greenwood also left the club, but on a temporary basis. The forward joined Preston North End on loan. After years of not breaking into the Leeds first team, the 22-year old has spent the last year on loan to prove himself. Greenwood played on loan at Middlesbrough where he scored five goals and provided three assists in the Championship.
This season, Greenwood has been off to a great start with Preston. The forward has four goals so far, and scored their only goal in the draw with Derby County this weekend. Despite his decent start to life at Preston, former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford says the player is not good enough to play for Daniel Farke:
“He’s a very creative player and his set pieces are fantastic. His distribution is really clever. While he was at Leeds, in PL2, goals and assists, every single game, they were coming thick and fast, on a regular basis.
“He didn’t get the same opportunities at Leeds, he just wasn’t quite suited. The pressure at Preston is not going to be as much as it is at Leeds, the expectation is not going to be as much as it is at Leeds United.”
Is Beckford right about Greenwood?
Nobody can predict the future, but Greenwood is a decent player and can get even better. The problem is how he gets into this Leeds United team. Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt and Mateo Joseph can’t even start at the moment, so unless Greenwood has a fantastic campaign, his chances of returning to the club are very slim.
