Leeds United fumbled massively amid Viktor Gyokeres revelation | OneFootball

Victor Orta's latest revelation highlights a costly transfer error made by Leeds United

There is no doubt that Victor Orta massively fumbled the decision not to sign Viktor Gyokeres during his time at Leeds United.

The Whites’ former director of football has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to sign the Swede when he was a key figure behind the scenes at Elland Road.

The Spaniard was with the Yorkshire outfit from 2017 to 2023, and was a crucial part of their rise back to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa.

Orta had his hits and misses during his time with Leeds. For every Raphinha, there was a Jean Kevin Augustin, and his latest admission on Gyokeres is very much one that sits in his miss column.

Orta on Leeds' Gyokeres miss

Speaking to postgraduate students at the Liga Portugal Business school, the 45-year-old opened up on how he decided that €14 (£11.7) million was too steep a price to pay to sign Gyokeres from Coventry City.

“When I was at Leeds United I didn’t want to give [£11.7] million for him,” said Orta, via Record.

“Cases like that of Gyokeres are the good surprises that football gives us, those things that we cannot measure.”

Gyokeres deal was a massive missed opportunity for Leeds

Given the timeframe involved, it was likely this deal would’ve taken place in the 2022/23 season.

He bagged 17 goals in 41 league appearances that campaign, cementing himself as a key part of Mark Robins’ side.

Leeds went on to suffer relegation from the Premier League that season, with Orta stepping down from his role with the club in the process.

Gyokeres went on to power Coventry to the play-off final, before making a big-money switch to Sporting Clube de Portugal.

He has become one of the most exciting forwards in Europe, thriving in the Portuguese top flight, bagging 45 goals from 43 league appearances.

A forward of that talent in the Leeds squad could have easily been the difference between staying up in 2023, and the relegation they instead suffered.

While it’s easy to criticise with hindsight, it is still a deal that supporters will now be left wondering ‘what if?’ given how he has performed on the continent.

Impact Gyokeres could’ve had at Leeds

Gyokeres could have kept Leeds in the top flight taking his post-Coventry trajectory into consideration.

This is a player that could now easily fetch a transfer fee in the region of £60-80 million, at least.

If Leeds had stayed up, then Daniel Farke may have never become manager, and players like Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter and Archie Gray may all still be in the first team squad.

It’s a big sliding door moment for the club, and highlights just how difficult it can be to judge players in the transfer market.

Leeds’ loss was Sporting’s gain, and the Whites are still suffering from the consequences of that to this day.

Now it is up to the likes of Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph to help turn things around at Elland Road, and the club’s new head of recruitment Alex Davies must heed this warning from Orta in order to avoid such a costly mistake again when it comes to the next Gyokeres.