Sevilla have announced the appointment of Victor Orta as their new Sporting Director, after Monchi left the club last week for Aston Villa.
The former Leeds United Sporting Director will be in charge of building the squad in Nervion for the next three seasons, and returns to the club a decade later.
Orta was initially part of Monchi’s technical team between 2006 and 2013, during which time they won two Europa Leagues. After that he had spells at Zenit St. Petersburg, Elche and then Leeds, where he took them back to the Premier League alongside Marcelo Bielsa.
He comes with big boots to fill. Monchi has been in charge of matters for 21 of the last 23 years, and brought unparalleled success to the club. It is thought that both Braulio Vazquez and David Cobeno were ahead of him in the pecking order, but Orta now has the chance to manage a major side in the Champions League.
Nevertheless it is a tricky place to start. Orta arrives with a bloated squad after perhaps Monchi’s weakest spell at the club, and as things stand, Jose Luis Mendilibar will have 35 players to work with. Due to the amount of money tied up in salaries, it seems unlikely he will have a large budget to work with.
