Leeds United’s recruitment structure is changing.
Once upon a time, one man — Victor Orta — ran the show in that regard but, since 49ers Enterprises assumed ownership at Elland Road, responsibilities have been shared around. It was a conscious decision by the new owners when they took control from former owner Andrea Radrizzani in 2023 and the recruitment team has been an evolving entity ever since.
Last week, The Athletic revealed that technical director Gretar Steinsson is to leave the club and move into a role within the 49ers global business, while head of recruitment Jordan Miles is also leaving.
With the January transfer window on the horizon, The Athletic profiles the key figures and their roles in transfer activity at Elland Road.
Daniel Farke — manager
Farke plays a big role when it comes to transfers and the shape and size of his squad. As has been the aim under the 49ers ownership, transfers are a collaborative process and having the involvement of the manager is crucial. Farke is, after all, the person who fronts up to questions from the media about incomings and outgoings and is the man responsible for on-field performance.
The manager has made recommendations when it comes to possible targets, some of which Leeds have been able to pull off, like the signing of Ao Tanaka from Fortuna Dusseldorf for a reported €4million (£3.3m). Despite the German initially managing expectation when it came to Tanaka’s role within the team — something he is good at in order to help shield his players from outside noise — the midfielder is thriving. Tanaka won the club’s player of the month award for October and has been standout signing from the summer, a year after Leeds first looked at the player. Farke’s knowledge of German football was beneficial in this instance and, working with analytics and scouting teams, everyone was on the same page in recognising the potential for Tanaka to thrive at the club.
Nick Hammond — consultant
Hammond played an important role in helping Leeds navigate the transition from the Premier League to the Championship and remains on board in a consultancy role. Hammond’s vast experience as director of football at Reading, technical director at West Bromwich Albion and head of football operations at Celtic makes him an expert in the field of player trading and negotiating with other clubs and he will continue to assist in those areas as Leeds look towards the January window.
Leeds have undergone two seasons of significant business in both quantity and value of signings and sales, with nine incomings and 13 departures in the summer of 2023 and eight arrivals and 11 exits in the summer 2024 window. Hammond is respected within the industry and is said to have been influential in putting together United’s approach to Chelsea for Ethan Ampadu in summer 2023 which, for his £7million fee, has been a resounding success.
Hammond is said to be straight in his negotiating style, which works to his benefit in ensuring he secures a fair deal for the clubs he has represented. His experience and impressive track record, particularly in the time he has worked with Leeds, is an asset to the club as they navigate changes to the recruitment team and target promotion.
Alex Davies — head of recruitment
Following the departure of Miles, Davies now leads the department.
Miles leaves Leeds nine months after joining from Aberdeen to pursue new opportunities, allowing Leeds to promote from within. Davies has been at the club for 13 years working in a variety of roles including in the performance analysis, scouting and recruitment teams. Since February, he has been head of recruitment operations and worked closely with Miles.
Angus Kinnear — CEO
Kinnear represents a link between the business and football sides of Leeds, as he sits on the board but also works on transfers. His past experience at West Ham United and Arsenal are an asset that Leeds have been able to draw on during the 49ers takeover and the squad rebuild since relegation from the Premier League. Among other deals, Kinnear’s good relationship with Tottenham Hotspur is said to have assisted the move to bring Joe Rodon to the club on loan in the summer of 2023, a move that became permanent a year later.
His role as CEO means he has a much broader job than just football-related activities at Leeds and includes work on ambitious projects like the plans announced in September regarding the proposed expansion of Elland Road to 53,000 seats. Kinnear also speaks to the media and provided interesting insight at the end of the summer window regarding the dynamic between the transfer team at Leeds.
“In recruitment discussions there’s always tension, and there should be tension, and I think it’s healthy,” Kinnear told The Square Ball podcast in September.
“There is tension between the data team and the scouting team and the coaching staff and the manager and the ownership. But I think we had really good, constructive dialogue with Daniel. There are no players that everybody wasn’t fully aligned on before we secured them.
“The process is much more collaborative than it has been historically. So everybody has a say. But Daniel and the recruitment team knew that the board supported us pretty much unconditionally in terms of the players that we targeted and the players that were available to us.
“I probably give us a B+ if I was to grade the window in terms of what we wanted to do.”
While there was a degree of concern among fans that Leeds had not strengthened adequately to replace the summer outgoings of Gray, Summerville and Rutter, Kinnear’s B+ grade now seems a fair assessment of the window given the revenue raised by the sales and the success of Tanaka, Jayden Bogle, Joe Rothwell and Largie Ramazani in the first part of the season.
Adam Underwood — head of football operations
As part of the recent changes within the recruitment team, Underwood not only continues in his role as head of football operations but will take the lead on player trading, assisted by Hammond. Underwood was promoted from his role as academy director in July 2023 and his position is vital at the club’s Thorp Arch training ground, with responsibilities that include working with medical and coaching staff.
Completing the team is Hannah Cox, who continues her role as head of football administration. Her role, based at Elland Road, sees her take care of legal matters relating to transfers and player contracts.
(Top photo: Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
