The gifted attacker has established himself as a top prospect for the Championship team.
Former Leeds United sporting director Victor Orta was relieved of his duties shortly before the end of the 2022/23 campaign as his decisions played a part in the club’s eventual relegation.
The Whites dropped down to the Championship from the Premier League as the Spanish chief’s signings and managerial appointments failed to keep the side in the top-flight.
| Orta’s most-expensive Leeds signings | |
|---|---|
| Player | Fee (via Transfermarkt) |
| Brenden Aaronson | £28.4m |
| Rodrigo | £25.9m |
| Dan James | £25.1m |
| Georginio Rutter | £24.2m |
| Luis Sinisterra | £21.6m |
Orta, who is now with Sevilla in LaLiga, had his fair share of transfer failures, and successes, throughout his time at Elland Road as he splashed the cash, with mixed results.
The former Leeds director had the chance to spend a lot of money on a number of players, as you can see in the table above, but they were not sufficient to stop relegation back to the second tier.
However, Orta also deserves respect for some of his excellent commercial decisions, such the hiring of head coach Marcelo Bielsa and the signing of Raphinha, a player from Brazil.
The recruitment of talented forward Mateo Joseph, who is already beginning to thrive in England, was one move the Spanish maestro made that appears to have struck gold.
How much did Leeds pay for Mateo Joseph?
According to reports, the Whites paid £900k to acquire the young dynamo from Espanyol at the beginning of 2022’s January transfer window.
The precocious youngster was reportedly coveted by European powerhouses Barcelona and Manchester City, but TEAMtalk stated that Orta’s “perssistence” paid off as the former Leeds manager was eventually able to arrange a deal for him before of the competition.
In the 2020–21 season, he scored 14 goals in 21 games for Espanyol’s U19 team, including a hat-trick against Barcelona B. He then transferred to Elland Road.
His three-goal performance against the Catalan powerhouses demonstrated his talent as he scored from the penalty spot, had a great solo goal, and shown terrific mobility to be in the right area for a tap-in. This demonstrated his versatility as a center forward by scoring a variety of goals.
In order to strengthen the club’s U21 team, Orta was able to acquire Joseph ahead of, perhaps, bigger clubs thanks to his strong goalscoring record for the Spanish team.
How much was Joseph worth in 2022?
In 2022, FootballTransfers placed the teenage striker’s Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at just €300k (£260k) as the forward had not proven himself in England or at U21 level.
He had only excelled for Espanyol’s U19 side and this suggests that Orta spent £900k on the attacker in the hope that Joseph would be able to translate his form to older age groups, and beyond, as well as being able to adapt to life in another country.
The former Leeds sporting director may have been left questioning his own decision as the Spanish-born forward struggled throughout the second half of the 2021/22 campaign.
Joseph moved to Yorkshire during the January transfer window, however in 11 appearances for the academy in all competitions, he only managed to score twice.
In his first five months with the club, he scored once in seven U21 games and once and provided an assist in four games for the U18 team.
The strong goal-scoring form he shown for Espanyol during the first half of 2022 was not repeated by the England U20 international, preventing him from making an immediate impact.
How many goals did Joseph score last season
However, the English star’s outstanding performance for the academy during the 2022–23 season—in which he scored 17 goals across all competitions—would have allayed Orta’s worries.
The 19-year-old gem, who can play either out on the left side or as a center-forward, drew everyone’s attention with an astounding tally of 16 goals and two assists in 21 Premier League 2 appearances for the U21s.
As the number nine for Leeds, Joseph demonstrated his ability to score frequently, with a goal per 1.31 games on average. He also demonstrated his creative abilities in the EFL Trophy against lower league competition.
In three games against Bolton, Tranmere, and Crewe, the former Espanyol prodigy generated 1.7 critical passes per game, two “big chances,” and one goal while averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.97.
Joseph played six senior matches during the 2022–23 season after the first team noticed his performance at the youth level. Despite this, the adolescent finisher was unable to score his first goal for the side.
Leave a Reply