Victor Orta spent close to six years at Leeds United before leaving Elland Road at the start of last month.
Since parting ways with Jesse Marsch in February, the Whites had two managers and won only three league games. The series of poor results saw them relegated from the Premier League and the Spaniard was shown the exit door in May.
Earlier this week, Sevilla appointed Orta as their new sporting director, where he’ll replace Monchi. Former Leeds coach Julio Bañuelos has backed the La Liga side’s decision during an interview with ABC Sevilla.
Bañuelos believes Orta’s past experience of working in the media also helps him in the role as a director.
“I have a very positive experience with Victor. He gave us the opportunity to work and get to know English football. We came from playing in the Europa League with Apoel. At Leeds it was a beautiful experience… it was all very nice,” he said.
“He is a great professional, very valid. He is dedicated to and for football. He knows absolutely all the ins and outs of this world, which is very complex.
“Victor started working at Radio Marca, which is why he also knows the entire field of journalism, football… everything. He moves very well. Apart from having very good knowledge, being very interested in his field, he is very well surrounded by professionals who perfectly control the market.
“His arrival at Sevilla FC is an important step in his career. Victor deserves it. He is an excellent professional who also knows everything about Seville and Sevilla FC, because he has already been there. He’s the perfect substitute for Monchi. But it is not necessary to compare him with Monchi.”
Orta’s first task at Leeds was to appoint Thomas Christiansen as their manager in 2017 and Bañuelos was the Dane’s assistant. The latter left Elland Road when Christiansen was sacked in February 2018.
When asked to share his experience of working with Orta at Leeds, the Spaniard only had positive things to say about his compatriot. He also explained how Orta was different to other sporting directors.
“He interacted a lot with us, but always from a positive perspective. He never got involved as other technical or sports directors do in issues of lineups or in day-to-day work,” Bañuelos explained.
“The ‘feedback’ with Victor was very good. He tried to help us as much as possible. Neither Thomas Christiansen nor I can say anything negative about Victor Orta. He didn’t put us in trouble with anything we asked for at a big club like Leeds United.
“He’s a very proactive person, who always anticipates events, what can happen. All this helped us to learn more quickly the idiosyncrasies of English football. He had impeccable behaviour with us and always helped us.”
