So close, yet so far – that is just about as succinct a description that you could have to sum up the Leeds United ‘transfer chase’ for Dan James when he was at Swansea. It also sums up how frustratingly close the Whites were to landing Che Adams from Swansea – something Victor Orta talks about here with publication ‘The Scouted Hub‘.
In a longer piece about Marcelo Bielsa and the responsibilities that he has at the club, Victor Orta gives an insight into his role and how the club operates when it comes to transfers and sourcing players.
Making a differentiation between the summer and winter windows, Orta said how you approach each differently is key. For the summer window, guiding principles are either ‘quality’ or ‘quantity’ but for the January window it is different.
For Orta it is all about ‘availability’ of players and this January one player that the Whites had their eyes on was Southampton’s rarely-used striker Che Adams. The interest that Leeds United had in his was common knowledge, as was the fact that the Whites were brokering a bid.
However, it all fell apart and, speaking to ‘The Sporting Hub’, Victor Orta gives a little insight into what happened. On the failed bid, Orta states: “I have a player that the second week of December is really available for us, near to closing (the deal), and the second week of January he’s not available because he gave a nice assist against Leicester.”
Southampton was ready to sell, Leeds United was poised to buy. However, Saints boss Ralf Hassenhutl is said to have put his foot down and the Whites instead moved for Jean-Kevin Augustin. It was a move which even Orta said he was surprised at in that he didn’t think the French striker was available.
