Jesse Marsch has told Chelsea exactly what they're missing with director of football target Victor Orta as Todd Boehly circles.
The Leeds sporting director is on a shortlist of candidates Chelsea are looking at as Boehly plans to implement a new footballing structure at Stamford Bridge over the coming weeks and months. The Blues had been hopeful of recruiting RB Salzburg's Christoph Freund but he had a late U-turn.
Elsewhere there are hopes that Michael Edwards could be persuaded out of his break from the game whilst Tim Steidten of Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta scout Lee Congerton and Benfica's Rui Pedro Braz are all candidates for the role alongside Orta and RB Leipzig's Christopher Vivell.
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Marsch is hopeful that Orta, who he joined at the club in February, won't be leaving Elland Road anytime soon, though. "I'm not surprised that he's been linked to some to some big jobs," said Marsch, when asked about Chelsea's interest. "I can unequivocally say he is very happy here and I'm hopeful he stays because of the relationship I have with him and the expertise and hard work he puts in to building this club.
"But it's the same for everybody in this businesses. People have opportunities, we have contractual obligations and people have to think about what's best in their personal and professional lives and what opportunities there are, then everyone has to find ways to move forward in their best interests."
Orta was one of the men behind Marcelo Bielsa's impressive rise at Leeds and has already overhauled that squad for Marsch, bringing in former players Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen. Aaronson himself had been looked at by Chelsea as Boehly continues an expansion of scouting into America.
Orta hasn't revealed any plans to leave Yorkshire yet though: "Angus [Kinnear], Victor and I had a dinner planned, which we do every six weeks, we went to Iberica (a restaurant in Leeds) which I thought was a perfect place for Victor to tell us that he was leaving but fortunately, that was not the case," he said.
"We talked very openly about it and I I told him I basically made him promise that he was going to stay with me if I came here. But I said if you get an opportunity to go to a place like Chelsea with your family situation, I understand you have to consider it. In the end he has to make a decision for what's best for his him and his family.
"But I know how much he loves Leeds United, how much he loves working with me and with Angus and what we do here with Andrea [Radrizzani]. I'm hopeful and that he will stay."
The Spaniard has been at Leeds for five years now having started his journey as a sporting director back in 2013 at Zenit Saint-Petersburg before moving to Elche and Middlesbrough. So far Orta has been an outside name on Chelsea's list, but his importance to Marsch, his knowledge of the American market and Premier League experience all make him a desirable character for Boehly's revolution.
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