Talks over a deal to bring Rodrigo Moreno from Leeds United to Sevilla still have a long way to go with the Victor Orta favourite under pressure to accept a pay cut at the La Liga giants.
It took less than 24 hours since his appointment at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for Victor Orta – who replaced Monchi as Sevilla’s sporting director this week – to be linked with a raid of his old employers.
Leeds United brought Rodrigo Moreno to Elland Road during Orta’s time at the helm; paying a club-record £26 million fee for the former Valencia striker shortly after sealing promotion from the Championship under Marcelo Bielsa.
Now on their way back to the second tier, Rodrigo’s reported £100,000-a-week wages threaten to become a major drain on Leeds’ resources.
Leeds’ Rodrigo Moreno could work with Victor Orta again
But while Diario AS reported on Tuesday that a deal to reunite the 32-year-old with Orta in Spain was ‘very’ close, Vamos di Sevilla are not quite so optimistic. The negotiations, they say, are not quite as advanced as AS made out.
Sevilla, Europa League champions again last season, are offering Rodrigo a two-year deal. The player wants three. A contract that would keep him in Andalusia until the age of 35.
What’s more, Rodrigo would have to accept a pay cut in order to join. Sevilla; a side who’s latest European triumph distracted from a largely dreadful domestic campaign; the Andalusians going through three head coaches and spending much of the season in a relegation battle.
It remains to be seen if Orta returns for any other members of the Leeds squad he played a major role in constructing. Junior Firpo, Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto are among those facing uncertain futures.
Marc Roca, meanwhile, is closing in on a deal that will see him join Sevilla’s arch rivals Real Betis. Roca’s representatives were in Spain for talks last week.
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