Leeds made a bigger mistake than Gyokeres by failing to sign £167m star

Leeds United are currently competing to return to the Premier League at the second time of asking after they were relegated from the top-flight at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

The Whites spent three years at the top table of English football before succumbing to relegation under Sam Allardyce, who came in towards the end of the season after both Javi Gracia and Jesse Marsch were relieved of their duties in 2023.

Many members of staff, including management, and players contributed to that failure in the 2022/23 campaign, and sporting director Victor Orta has to take some of the blame.

As you can see in the table above, the Spanish chief was given plenty of money to splash on new signings throughout that season, spending around £107m on his top five most expensive additions.

Leeds made 12 signings in total across the summer and January transfer windows that season, for combined fees that totalled roughly £137m – per Transfermarkt.

Orta’s biggest mistake in the transfer market that season, however, was actually his failure to land one of his targets – Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres.

Victor Orta’s Viktor Gyokeres howler

The sporting director, who now works for Sevilla in Spain, recently confirmed that he had the opportunity to push through a deal to sign the Sweden international during his time at Leeds.

Speaking to Portuguese outlet Record, Orta said: “When I was at Leeds United I didn’t want to give €14m for him (Gyokeres). Cases like that of Gyokeres are the good surprises that football gives us, those things that we cannot measure.”

TEAMtalk added, whilst relaying the quotes, that the chance to sign the centre-forward for £11.6m came in the January transfer window, which was the same month in which the Spaniard spent £34m on Georginio Rutter.

Gyokeres scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in all competitions for the Sky Blues that season, and had already scored 12 Championship goals by the time the January transfer window opened for business.

The then-24-year-old was in-form in the second tier, and proving his quality in English football, and would have cost a relatively small amount of money, in comparison to how much Rutter cost.

Gyokeres then joined Portuguese side Sporting on a permanent deal at the end of that season and has been an incredible addition for the Liga Portugal outfit.

The 26-year-old star has scored 66 goals and provided 19 assists in 68 appearances in all competitions so far, including 23 goals in 18 games this term, which has led to him being valued at £63m amid interest from Manchester United.

Orta, however, made an even bigger mistake than his error with Gyokeres when he failed to secure a deal to sign Erling Haaland as a teenager.

Leeds United’s chance to sign Haaland

The Leeds United sporting director was contacted by the Norwegian youngster’s agent to faciliate a possible move to Elland Road in the summer of 2017, as the forward – born in Leeds – was a supporter of the club.

Haaland was playing for Molde in his home country and went back to West Yorkshire, his place of birth, to view the training facilities and speak with Orta about the possibility of a transfer to the Whites.

It was claimed that Leeds even made a shirt with the forward’s name on the back for him to hold up and keep hold of as part of his trip to Thorp Arch.

Thomas Christiansen impressed the teenager and his agent during the trip and it appeared as though a transfer was in the pipeline, with both parties wanting to get a deal done.

However, Leeds still had to agree a fee with Molde and that is where the move broke down. The Norwegian side were demanding a fee of £4m for the striker and Orta, due to the club’s financial position, was not willing to gamble that much money on such a young player.

One that got away

The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast’s One That Got Away series.

Haaland went on to sign for Salzburg 18 months later, scoring 29 goals in 27 games, before his move to Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, for a fee of around £18.8m.

Erling Haaland’s emergence as a world-class striker

During his time in Germany, which was his first experience of a major European league, the young sensation racked up a staggering 86 goals and 23 assists in 89 games for Dortmund in all competitions.

Haaland scored 62 goals in 67 matches in the Bundesliga and that was enough to attract attention from Premier League giants Manchester City, who swooped for his signature in the summer of 2022.

The Cityzens reportedly paid a fee of £51.2m and, it is fair to say, that has turned out to be a bargain, given what he has achieved in his time with the English side so far.

As you can tell from the title of the video of some of his best goals for City above, Haaland has already reached a century of goals for Pep Guardiola, in just over two years.

The 24-year-old attacker has scored 105 goals and provided 14 assists in 114 appearances in all competitions for the Premier League side, helping them to win two league titles, an FA Cup, and a Champions League in that time.

As you can see in the table above, his value has soared throughout his time with Manchester City and currently stands at a staggering £167m – over £100m more than Gyokeres’ current value.

This suggests that Orta deciding not to sign the striker for £4m in the summer of 2017 was an even bigger blunder than his decision not to sign Gyokeres for £11.6m in January of last year, as Haaland has been incredibly prolific in England and proven himself to be a world-class striker – given his valuation and goalscoring record.

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