A massive surprise has come out of Leeds United on Monday morning with centre-back Diego Llorente set to join Jose Mourinho’s Roma on a loan-to-buy deal – despite the defender only recently signing a four-year deal at Elland Road.
Llorente, 29, is in his third season at Leeds but finds himself some way down the pecking order. He joined Leeds from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2020, but has fallen out of the reckoning at National Team level. Injuries were an issue.
Especially in his first season. But over two and a half years, he has managed just 59 appearances. He was given just 14 minutes against Accrington Stanley on Saturday afternoon. Manager Jesse Marsch chose to go first-choice at the back.
Llorente signed a new deal at Leeds towards the end of December, a deal until June 2026. A surprise, given how he has struggled at Elland Road and was hardly first choice. But just a month later and it appears Llorente is set to join Serie A.
Indeed, Sky Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Llorente has agreed a move and is due in Italy later today. It is believed a move will be an ‘expensive’ loan deal, with the option to buy. We bought Llorente for a fee of £18million.
Leeds defender Llorente set to join Jose Mourinho’s Roma on loan-to-buy
It is a great move for Llorente, firstly. Robin Koch is the first option on the right of the two centre-backs, and Max Wober has come in ahead of Liam Cooper. The issue for Leeds, is that we now lack cover for Germany star Koch.
It might be that Charlie Cresswell could be recalled at Elland Road, especially given Cresswell is struggling to start regularly for Millwall. We also have Luke Ayling that can play in the middle, but options are suddenly thin at the back.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
