Leeds United director of football Victor Orta spent January working on transfers but not for this window

Victor Orta was a very busy man in January but Leeds United had no intention of signing players for Marcelo Bielsa's first team this month.
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When deadline day came there was plenty going on - Marcelo Bielsa held a press conference, the Under 23s took on Sunderland and the paperwork was completed on three outgoing moves, but there was never any panic.

Jay-Roy Grot's time at Leeds United came to an end with a two-year deal at German second tier club VfL Osnabruck. Conor Shaughnessy left the Whites in order to sign an 18-month contract with Rochdale in League One. And Rafa Mujica went to Las Palmas on loan.

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For Leeds, this was merely house keeping. Grot and Shaughnessy were long considered outside of Bielsa's plans and surplus to requirements.

Earlier in the month they had moved players who are still thought of as part of the future to new loan clubs, for the second half of the season.

Ryan Edmondson returned from Aberdeen and headed straight down the M1 to Northampton Town. Jordan Stevens was recalled from Swindon Town in order to join Bradford City and Robbie Gotts swapped Lincoln City for Salford City.

Other than the interest in Pablo Hernandez from CD Castellón, the club he co-owns and will most probably retire with, and some enquiries for 23s players like Olly Casey and Sam Greenwood, that was that for Leeds' January business.

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Bielsa and co feel Hernandez still has a part to play in the Premier League and didn't entertain a move elsewhere for the playmaker, while only a guarantee of game time was going to prise Casey from his place in Mark Jackson's 23s side. Greenwood is another whose development is being carefully guided at Thorp Arch - he has impressed Bielsa and is having versatility added to his game with a new attacking midfield role, so was never likely to be farmed out.

LATE ARRIVAL - Raphinha signed for Leeds United on deadline day in the last transfer window. There were no additions planned for January at Leeds United. Pic: GettyLATE ARRIVAL - Raphinha signed for Leeds United on deadline day in the last transfer window. There were no additions planned for January at Leeds United. Pic: Getty
LATE ARRIVAL - Raphinha signed for Leeds United on deadline day in the last transfer window. There were no additions planned for January at Leeds United. Pic: Getty

And the reason for the lack of incoming movement was simple - there was no need.

Leeds' final footballing action of the month underlined that, emphatically.

A 3-1 win over a Leicester City side who could have gone second with victory, widened the gulf between the Whites and the drop zone to 15 points.

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It will take both a disaster of unthinkable proportion and a miracle for at least one of the teams currently occupying the bottom three places to prevent a second season of Premier League football for Leeds. One of those things is possible, of course, but the odds on both taking place are slim.

The work Orta did ahead of and during last summer has helped Leeds to ease themselves into an enviable position.

They're in good shape. Rodrigo's injury appears to be minor and what some see as a central defensive crisis, Bielsa sees as a problem he can fix within.

It was less than ideal to lose Robin Koch to knee surgery mid-season and the series of problems encountered by Diego Llorente only heightened the panic outside the club but Bielsa quite calmly turned to Pascal Struijk and the 21-year-old has turned in some calm, composed performances at centre-half.

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This is just the way Bielsa works. When he needs a player midway through a campaign he's far more likely to bring one up from the 23s, someone who is fit and understands the system, than to gamble in the transfer market.

"I prefer to run the risk that at one point we will be missing a player rather than keep a player who won't have an important role in the team," he said, this week.

Besides, Gaetano Berardi will be back soon, so too will Llorente and Koch is said to be ahead of schedule, so if anything Bielsa could shortly find himself with more centre-backs than he knows what to do with.

What the head coach's modus operandi and the success of his team so far this season has meant for Orta this month is an opportunity to get his head down and plot for the summer.

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Phase two of Leeds' Premier League recruitment drive will be aimed at further strengthening the squad because you simply cannot afford to stand still at this level of football.

Orta has his lists, he has targets lined up and has been speaking to agents and clubs to lay the groundwork, as he did with Koch last year, in order to hit the ground running when the next window opens.

There's a lot to be said for the excitement a deadline day arrival can bring - Raphinha being the perfect example, but there's a lot more to be said about ordering in the Nando's at 5.30pm and watching other clubs scramble at the 11th hour, knowing your previous body of work has ensured you're not one of them.

Don't go to bed just yet, treat yourself to a look at the Premier League table.

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