Despite the disappointment of last week’s play-off exit, Leeds United will already be putting plans in place ahead of next season, with the Whites looking to go one better in the Sky Bet Championship and achieve promotion.

Leeds were close under Marcelo Bielsa in 2018/19, but they are now facing up to another huge summer, with a 16^th season outside the Premier League beckoning.

Bielsa worked wonders with the squad he had at his disposal last season, but he needs backing this summer and Leeds need a sprinkling of quality to get them over the line next year.

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Recruitment will once again be headed by Victor Orta; Leeds’ director of football, who has overseen the last two summer transfer windows following Andrea Radrizzani’s takeover.

A report in the Yorkshire Evening Post has looked at all of Orta’s signings since arriving at Leeds in 2017, and in truth, it makes pretty grim reading, with only a handful of players being a success.

Pontus Jansson kicks things off, although all Orta did was make his loan permanent. From there, names like Mateusz Klich, Ezgjan Alioski, Adam Forshaw, Tyler Roberts, Barry Douglas and Patrick Bamford feature.

Admittedly, all of the above contributed greatly to Leeds’ success last season under Bielsa, but for every Klich, there’s a Yosuke Ideguchi or a Laurens De Bock, people who have simply never made the grade at Elland Road.

Whilst Orta has some success stories, you can certainly argue that not enough of his signings have been a hit since moving to Leeds.

That’s left him walking a tightrope at Elland Road this summer and he needs to get things right to give the club the best chance of success under Bielsa.

Orta deserves credit for the appointment of Bielsa and transforming the club’s academy, but it is his senior recruitment that will ultimately decide whether he himself is a success story at Leeds.

The jury is out and what he does over the coming months will be vital to the fans getting off his back.

There was so much to be positive about at Leeds last season, but the club finds themselves in a familiar position and the finger is being pointed at various people, Orta included.

It is now firmly down to the director of football to find that quality and add it to Bielsa’s armoury, as Leeds look to go one better in 2019/20.