Director of football Victor Orta has revealed that he has long-term ambitions of helping guide Leeds United to European qualification.
Leeds finished ninth on their return to the English top-flight in 2020-21 but only just survived relegation last term. Orta insists that the short-term goal is Premier League stability but says the club have long term goals of contending for the European qualification places in the future.
“This club for potential is top 10 in England in every way,” Orta told Spanish publication El Pais.
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“Here there is a generation that is over 50 years old that has seen Leeds finish champion of England with some regularity. There is a generation of 30-50 years that has seen Leeds in the Champions League semi-final and three years later in the third category, in League One. Then there are the younger ones who don’t recall seeing many Premier League matches.
“We are lucky to be a one club city. We are the third largest city in the Premier League by population and the largest with only one club. That is a social value and generates real ambition.
“This year the goal is to establish ourselves between 14th and 10th place, and the following year between 12th and 9th, and then establish ourselves among the top ten. If you do things right, you can put Leeds in European competition.”
Leeds have enjoyed relative success in the opening stages of the 2022/23 campaign and sit 11th in the Premier League. The Whites have collected eight points from six games and are four points adrift of European qualification and four points clear of the drop zone.
United have a strong history in Europe having finished runners-up in the European Cup in 1975 and reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup and Champions League in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Their last European campaign came in the UEFA Cup in 2002/03 when they reached the third round of the competition.
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