Victor Orta reveals why he joined Leeds United after Middlesbrough departure

Victor Orta left his role as Middlesbrough's head of recruitment in May 2017. | JPIMedia

Middlesbrough’s former head of recruitment Victor Orta says Leeds’ passionate fan base was one of the reasons he joined the club.

Orta arrived at Boro in December 2015, when Aitor Karanka was in charge, but left Teesside two and a half years later following the club’s relegation from the Premier League.

After winning promotion to the top flight, Boro brought in a host of players under Orta’s guidance, including Victor Valdes, Brad Guzan, Antonio Barragan, Bernardo Espinosa, Gaston Ramirez, Adama Traore, Viktor Fischer, Fabio, Marten De Roon, Alvaro Negredo, Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford.

The Spaniard’s departure came two months after Karanka’s sacking, and Orta was then appointed Leeds’ director of football.

Orta wouldn’t be drawn on Boro during an interview with our sister title the Yorkshire Evening Post but admitted he had several options after leaving the Riverside.

“When I arrive at Leeds, I felt a Latin club behind Leeds, fans who take this club like a religion,” he said.

“But that was part of my decision, when I chose Leeds. I had two options to go back to Spain but I knew the weight of the history of football at Leeds United and I always said if I can, I want to work in clubs with history, with passion.

“For me, I chose Leeds for this reason.”

Orta also admitted he was calmer before joining Leeds, and the Spaniard’s demeanour was captured in the recent Amazon documentary ‘Take Us Home: Leeds United.’

“The passion is because I love the game,” added Orta, who previously worked in Spain with La Liga clubs Sevilla and Elche.

“It is true if you analyse my behaviour before Leeds I was more calm in another situation, perhaps because I was in other roles.

“My time in Elche saw the same level of passion, we suffered a lot, we didn’t get salaries during eight months and we were at the bottom of the league in December.

“We stayed in La Liga with four games to play, without calling one pound of our salary in six months, wow.

“It was a good test for evidence of my passion. I feel that we made the job in a really difficult situation.”