Victor Orta once decided against signing Florentino Luis for Leeds, now Liverpool could get him

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool are said to be interested in signing Benfica star Florentino Luis – over two years after Leeds United chief Victor Orta decided against bringing him to Elland Road.

Luis has been one of Benfica’s gems for a while now. He has been heavily linked with a move abroad since the summer of 2020, but the Portuguese giants have managed to keep hold of him.

Victor Orta decided against signing Florentino Luis for Leeds

Back in the summer of 2020, Leeds were heavily linked with a move to sign Luis.

Orta even held talks with Benfica to sign the talented midfielder, but the response he received was that Luis was only available on a season-long loan deal.

Leeds wanted him permanently and Orta believes that a loan would’ve benefitted nobody. As a result, he decided against signing Luis and the youngster was sent to Monaco on loan instead.

Orta told Record, as quoted by HITC: “Yes, we liked him (Luis), but Benfica wanted to loan him out to get minutes.

“And in that position, Kalvin Phillips plays, a player of Leeds’ academy. It was an operation from which no-one would benefit.”

Liverpool want to sign Luis now

Luis signed a new contract at Benfica just five days ago. The 23-year-old has been tied down until the summer of 2027, and it has been reported that his release clause stands at a whooping £104 million.

Reports have claimed this week that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are interested in signing Luis in 2023.

The Reds are said to be ‘studying a possible attack’ to sign the talented young midfielder, who will surely cost a fortune in the January transfer window.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out, but we can’t see Liverpool smashing their transfer record on Luis any time soon.