It’s been a little over two years since Victor Orta left Leeds United and the former Elland Road transfer chief has now suffered a similar fate at Sevilla.
Orta and Leeds parted ways in May 2023 as relegation back to the Championship loomed, with the former sporting director following sacked manager Javi Gracia out the door. Jesse Marsch had only been dismissed three months prior and Gracia’s replacement, Sam Allardyce, took charge of four games before leaving at the end of the season.
That summer, Orta returned to Sevilla under the role of sporting director but things have not gone well. The Europa League regulars slumped to 14th during the 2023/24 campaign and in the season just gone, avoided a first relegation since 2000 by the skin of their teeth, finishing just one point above the drop zone after one win in their final 11 games.
Reports from Spain last week suggested it would only be a matter of time before Orta was sacked, having ‘completely lost’ the trust of other board members at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan – albeit no one had actually told the sporting director of their plans at that time. Well now the former Leeds chief appears to have been informed, with Fabrizio Romano reporting on his exit.
In a post on X on Tuesday evening, Romano simply wrote: “Sevilla and director Victor Orta part ways with immediate effect.” It is unclear whether Orta has been sacked by Sevilla, or they have parted ways by mutual agreement, but the Spanish club will now be looking for a new transfer chief ahead of the summer window.
Orta’s Sevilla struggles as Leeds United questions remain
Orta appears to have now paid the price for two of Sevilla’s worst years in recent memory. Since returning to La Liga in 2001, only once had they finished outside the top 10 before his arrival, and they have since finished 14th and 17th. Fans have regularly vented their frustration at key decision-makers inside the club and Leeds’ former sporting director has been far from immune.
In less than two years in charge of Sevilla’s sporting matters, Orta has burned through five managers, in the end turning to Joaquín Caparros for a fourth stint as emergency head coach. As was the case during the latter years of his Elland Road stint, the transfer chief has also been heavily criticised for the quality of his signings.
“I’m working with objectives set for me by the club,” Orta insisted earlier this year when quizzed on his squad building efforts. “We’ve had some real misfortunes with injuries, with the reinforcements in the winter transfer window, with – in truth – very bad luck. We haven’t improved as we had hoped… I think that, in the grand scheme of things, we have to acknowledge a lot of mistakes I’ve made.”
Opinion on Orta’s Leeds spell is not unanimous among Leeds fans, with the acceptance he was responsible not only for bringing in Marcelo Bielsa, but signing relatively unknown gems such as Raphinha, Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto. But particularly in those difficult Premier League campaigns, the transfer chief’s ability to build a suitable squad came into question and more recent arrivals like Rasmus Kristensen and Weston McKennie simply did not work out.
Fabrizio Romano 10-word update confirms familiar fate for ex-Leeds United transfer chief
