Ex-Leeds United Victor Orta 'makes offer' to relegated owner as scout chief handles Whites affairs

According to RAC1 journalist Joan Camí, Orta has offered his services to Espanyol, who have had their exit from LaLiga confirmed. Espanyol sit second bottom of LaLiga table with a game to go in the 2022/23 season. A 2-2 draw away from home with Valencia confirmed that Los Pericos will join Elche in Segunda next season with the final relegation spot to be decided on the last day of the campaign.

Camí suggests that Orta has put his name in the frame to replace the likely-departing sporting director Domingo Catoira, at RCDE Stadium, with owner Chen Yansheng set to make a decision on who will take charge of the rebuild at the end of the season.

Even before Orta parted company with Leeds he admitted in a recent interview that he was hankering for a return to Spain for family reasons, after almost six years at Elland Road. It was Orta’s preference to keep Javi Gracia in post, in the wake of a damaging defeat at Bournemouth, that put him on a collision course with the board. At ownership level there was a desire to sack Gracia and replace him with Sam Allardyce, which was ultimately the direction of travel for the Whites as Orta left the building.

Allardyce had four games in which to try and accrue enough points to keep Leeds from the drop but a solitary draw with Newcastle United was the height of it as they slipped back into the Championship after three years in the top flight. The ex-England boss wants to sit down with club chiefs to discuss his future but has refused to commit to staying and called for clarity over the ownership picture, with a 49ers takeover still in the offing but far from agreed.

In the meantime first team recruitment has been left in the care of Andrea Iore, with the support of scouts who remained in place following Orta’s exit and Craig Dean’s emerging talent department. The club have made tentative calls over possible transfer targets and formed a provisional plan over player retention. It is possible that they would seek to install a head of recruitment and a chief of football operations in a new structure but the ownership question must first be answered.

To that end, Andrea Radrizzani is yet to make his position clear in public. He has however commented on the need for fast action to progress his attempted takeover of relegated Serie A outfit Sampdoria. 49ers Enterprises are also yet to make any statement on their intentions since relegation. The club published a statement on Sunday night apologising to fans for relegation but it was unsigned and contained no detail as to the specific next steps.