When it comes to the January transfer window, it’s a period of the year that will give Victor Orta and Leeds nightmares.
Many a sleepless night has been followed by a hefty bang of Orta’s fist on the table. That’s because his success in the mid-season market has been far from triumphant.
Cast your minds back to January 2019 and you will recall the dumfounding saga revolving around Dan James. The Welshman was set to sign from Swansea and had even penned his contract at Elland Road.
Pictures had been taken of him holding up a Leeds shirt but in the final minutes of the window, Swansea failed to pick up the phone to ratify a deal. The transfer collapsed and then James went and signed for Manchester United the following summer.
Jean-Kevin Augustin then provided further evidence behind why Orta hasn’t quite got to grips with the January window. On paper, this was a superb piece of business. Leeds had brought a player with Bundesliga and Ligue 1 pedigree to the Championship.
However, Marcelo Bielsa wasn’t a fan of his work ethic and after various fitness issues he left the club having played just 48 league minutes.
As a result, the Whites failed to pay their obligation to buy after a rather horrendous error in the transfer market.
Unfortunately, if reports are to be believed this month, Leeds could be on the verge of another blunder. Earlier in January, it was revealed that the Whites were interested in signing Celtic winger Ryan Christie.
The Scot is a tremendous player technically and has contributed to 15 strikes this term – four goals and 11 assists. Based on that, he’d be a solid capture. However, the fact of the matter is that he’s in shambolic form.
Celtic have won just seven of their last 22 outings and Christie’s poor performances are a large part of that. In his last 16 games, the Scotland international has scored just once and he saved arguably his worst performance of the season for Celtic’s 2-2 draw with Livingston last weekend.
He surrendered possession on 17 occasions and completed just one cross. On top of that, Christie failed to complete a single dribble. With that in mind, he’d surely struggle to get in the side on Leeds’ right flank over Raphinha – a mazy dribbler with plenty of creative flair.
Christie has received plenty of flack for his performances in recent weeks too. Celtic pundit Colin Watt said last month: “The reason Christie annoys me so much is he’s just so inconsistent. There’s times where he’s shooting from 25-30 yards when there’s a better pass on.”
Indeed, the wide man has scored just three goals from 60 attempts at goal in the SPFL this term. That’s a woeful conversation rate of 5% - the worst in the Celtic side.
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The last thing Leeds right now with three straight defeats is another inconsistent player. He’s also annoying fans considerably.
One supporter described it as the worst performance they’d ever seen in a Celtic jersey after the draw with Livi last week. Another sarcastically pleaded that a snowman could have done a better job.
Of course, it’s important to take the stats in more than fan opinion, but it doesn’t bode well for a potential move.
Like with Augustin a year ago, this could be yet another huge mistake from Orta in the transfer market. Unless Christie starts showing more consistency, this is a player Leeds need to forget about.