Victor Orta now edging closer to "lovely" £8.5m signing, he's Leeds' next Raphinha - opinion

Leeds United are set to make a move to bring Gonzalo Plata to Elland Road this summer.

That’s according to a report by Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha (via Sport Witness), who claim that, with it looking unlikely that Real Valladolid will be able to afford their €10m (£8.5m) option to buy the 21-year-old this summer, Victor Orta is now plotting a move for the Sporting Lisbon forward.

Further reports have revealed that Real Betis are also interested in a move for the Ecuador international in the summer transfer window, however, it is suggested that, with Sporting willing to sell to the highest bidder, Leeds currently have the upper hand and as a result, are edging closer to the winger’s signature.

Considering just how exciting a prospect Plata appears to be, coupled with the fact that Raphinha looks certain to leave Elland Road this summer, it is easy to see why Orta would be keen on a deal to bring the South American to LS11 ahead of the Whites upcoming Premier League campaign.

Indeed, over his 30 LaLiga 2 appearances in 2021/22, the £4.5m-rated winger was in remarkable form for Valladolid, bagging six goals, providing five assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.5 shots, making 1.4 key passes and completing 2.3 dribbles per game.

The 21-year-old talent also highly impressed when his side were out of possession, making an average of 1.8 tackles, 0.7 interceptions and winning 6.0 duels – at a success rate of 51% – per fixture.

These metrics saw the player who Sam Tighe claimed possesses a “huge amount of talent” – as well as “lovely dribbling” and an “extremely hard” work rate – average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.96 – playing a pivotal role in his