In recent years, we have received stories about sporting directors who were offered to sign young and undiscovered Erling Haaland and declined. Solskjaer served Haaland on a silver platter, but Manchester United did not see the potential. Needless to say, a decision that gnaws at having seen the striker develop into the best in the world. Now comes a similar story about the next super striker, Viktor Gyökeres.
The Sporting star has 23 goals in 18 games this season, in the Swedish national team jersey 9 goals in 6 games. Now the giant is fighting for the signature of the 26-year-old, who can be called a football’s “late bloomer”.
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Victor Orta was sporting director at Leeds between 2017 and 2023 and made the decision not to sign the Swede. In the summer, the Swede will cost between 75 and 100 million euros, Leeds were offered a price in another galaxy.
“When I was at Leeds United, I didn’t want to pay 14 million euros for him,” the former sporting director begins to Media Sport.
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Now Orta works as sporting director for Sevilla, but the opportunity in 2023 when Coventry gave Leeds the offer, is something Orta cannot forget, but tries to explain what has subsequently become a huge mistake.
“Things like Gyökeres are the positive surprises football offers, the things we can’t predict,” says Orta.
Everything you need to know about Gyökeres matches
