MOT View: The call to Orta that almost saw ‘star player of the Championship’ move to Leeds
We’re going to apologise in advance to Leeds United fans who are scarred by reading about Dan James’ failed transfer in January 2019.
However, there’s a fascinating new detail that’s come out that shows how James ended up on Leeds’ radar in the first place.
When the story first broke of the possible transfer, many Leeds fans had no idea who James was and weren’t particularly excited by the prospect of him joining.
However, as the transfer window progressed and fans started watching him play, that all changed.
By the time it looked like the deal had been done, with James having passed a medical and recorded his intro video, the hype was real… only for the deal to collapse at the final hour.
James, who had only just broken into the Swansea side that season, went on to thrill against Man City in the FA Cup and ended up moving to Man United in the summer for £15m.
Leeds almost signed him for £8.5m which would have been a major coup.
In a brilliant article on transfers and data on the Athletic, it’s been revealed that James was spotted initially by Analytics FC founder Jeremy Steele, who put in a call to Victor Orta saying he had identified the “star player of the Championship”.
In the article, Steele goes on to say, “The best example for us was Daniel James. It was not successful for Leeds as it fell through at the last minute, but he has gone on to star for Manchester United.
“We recommended him after eight or nine games in the Championship and said he is a player Leeds had to sign immediately. Victor came back to us and was like, ‘Are you sure?’ and we said ‘Yes, 100 per cent’. They moved on it very quickly. Victor trusts data science.”
The James debacle was very painful for Leeds.
Many people, us included, think that Leeds would have gone on to win promotion last season if James had signed.
However, one good take from it is that Orta is prepared to trust in big data, which is absolutely at the forefront of scouting and transfers in the modern age.
Steele went on to say that James was identified through “predictive analytics” which helped spot him before he’d broken through into the mainstream.
James might be the one that got away but it bodes very well for Leeds in the Premier League.
There, Leeds will be less hampered by financial constraints and able to act quicker and more decisively in the transfer market.
Orta and Marcelo Bielsa have a very good transfer record since they’ve been working together and we can’t wait to see who they unearth if Leeds secure promotion back to the top flight.
In other Leeds United news, Major development for Leeds promotion reported with key PL meeting imminent