Three-way Leeds United transfer reshuffle asks new window questions of 49ers Enterprises

A reshuffle of Leeds United’s recruitment department is imminent with two high-profile exits and a promotion from within. Last week, Gretar Steinsson’s redeployment to 49ers Enterprises came to light, but there is more to come along Elland Road’s corridors.

Steinsson has been technical director with the Whites since July 2023, when he was among the first hires under the 49ers ownership. The Icelander will continue as a technical director, but with a remit for the wider San Francisco vehicle, rather than exclusively at United.

LeedsLive understands Jordan Miles, Steinsson’s aide and head of recruitment, will also move on from LS11 shortly. That departure, first reported by TEAMtalk, comes only nine months after Miles arrived from Aberdeen, where he worked for just eight months under the same job title.

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The impending exit of that pair will remove important expertise from the top of the club’s talent identification structure, though it is understood there are no plans to replace Steinsson directly. Miles, by contrast, will be succeeded by the promotion of an existing colleague at United.

As first reported by Training Ground Guru, Alex Davies, a longstanding employee at United, will now step up to become the club’s next head of recruitment. Davies is a highly respected member of the scouting department at United and is credited with first pointing out Ben White as a potential transfer target in 2018.

Speaking to LeedsLive in February 2020, then director of football Victor Orta said Davies had flagged White as a player worth monitoring before United faced Newport County in their 2018 FA Cup tie. White would, eventually, become one of the finest loan signings Leeds have made in their history.

Aside from Davies’s promotion, head of football operations Adam Underwood is expected to take on greater responsibility for player trading. Nick Hammond, who arrived as interim football advisor in June 2023, has continued to work as a transfer consultant for the club since then.

However, LeedsLive understands Hammond will now begin to reduce the hours he spends working with United. In the meantime, the former Newcastle United fixer will collaborate with Underwood and aid a transition period to the former academy chief.