Former Leeds United director of football Victor Orta faces a difficult first few weeks in his new job at Sevilla, according to reports from Spain.
Marca write that despite turning a season where they looked at risk of relegation into one where they claimed Champions League qualification by winning the Europa League, all is still not entirely well at Sevilla.
They claim that debts of over £90m have led club president Pepe Castro to tell his backroom staff that no members of their playing squad should be considered unsellable. Even in a transfer market inflated by fees from the Premier League and Saudi Arabia, that’s a hefty amount of money to raise; they’re either going to lose a big chunk of their squad, several of their best players, or both.
That is the context that Orta walks into after taking over from his highly-regarded former mentor Monchi, who is now in an equivalent role at Aston Villa. Even among that background, fans will be keen to see the club maintain the kind of standard that has seen them win seven Europa League titles since 2006.
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That success has always been built on player trading, of course: Sevilla have made big money in the transfer market over the past couple of decades, selling the likes of Dani Alves, Ivan Rakitic, Aleix Vidal, Clement Lenglet and Jules Kounde to Barcelona; Sergio Ramos to Real Madrid; Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas to Manchester City; and Diego Varlos to Aston Villa.
The trick is always in how you replace those players to keep the production line moving, both by bringing players through the academy and securing new signings. Orta already had big shoes to fill, but his job is just that much tougher if he has to prioritise balancing the books too.
