Leeds United’s Victor Orta remains realistic about the club’s progression in the Premier League but he does have European ambitions. The director of football has been at Elland Road since 2017, joining Andrea Radrizzani shortly after his full takeover of the Whites.
As such, he has helped the club win promotion back into the top flight of English football and establish itself in the top flight. However, Orta has more goals to achieve in West Yorkshire and he’d love to see the club make a return to Europe over the next few years.
It’s been 20 years since the Whites last competed in a European competition, with Malaga ending their hopes of UEFA Cup success back in December 2002. That third round defeat came just a year and a half after Leeds competed in the semi-finals of the Champions League during the 2000-01 campaign.
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There are seven European spots up for grabs this season, with the Premier League’s top four qualifying for the Champions League, while the team that finishes in fifth and the FA Cup winners progress to the Europa League and the Carabao Cup winners qualify for the Europa Conference League. Of course, that may change according to who wins the domestic cups, but it would certainly be seen as a huge success should Leeds work their way onto such a stage.
Orta knows the size of the challenge, but that hasn’t stopped him dreaming.
“It is as problematic to be too conservative as it is to be too ambitious,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “I think Leeds have to consolidate the project, to be between 14th and 10th, to take steps to reach the top 10 on a regular basis in two years’ time.”
“It is complicated,” he added when asked about Europe. “With the current business model in the Premier League, the top six is almost unattainable. Leicester and West Ham have broken through in recent years, but it's not easy. To be in the top 10 would already be a great success.
“I’d be delighted if something else comes along, like being able to play in the Conference League or, of course, the Europa League. I have that as a goal. Ever since I arrived, it’s something I’ve been obsessing about. But it wouldn’t be to do anything new, but to put the club in its place.
“We have stable shareholders and a way of working that does not put the club at risk. It is one of our keys. Nothing is going to change in the short term. I’m sure [chairman] Andrea Radrizzani is very happy here. He set himself five years to get promotion, and he got it in three. Now we have stayed in the Premier League these two years, and now we are trying to stabilise. We have used all the money from the sales to strengthen, and that speaks well of the owners.”
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