Leeds United have an agreement in place to sell a “really good” player permanently in the summer, with a new update on his future now shared.
Leeds United’s January transfer window
The Whites and Daniel Farke left it late in the winter window to secure their only signing of the month, with right-back Connor Roberts joining on loan from Burnley. The Wales international seemingly already has his sights on making his move permanent, saying after joining on deadline day:
“Football’s a funny game, so I’ll be doing my very best to make a good impression on and off the pitch and maybe in the future it can change from the straight loan but yeah, at the moment it’s just come here try and help on and off the pitch.
“The aim is to get promoted and whether that means me playing half the games, all the games, only a few games, it doesn’t really bother me. I just want to want to be smiling with the rest of the lads come the end of the season.”
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The Whites are thought to be working behind the scenes over a new deal.
The arrival was arguably needed as well after Djed Spence’s season-long loan was cut short and Luke Ayling left on loan for Middlesbrough. Roberts will now rival the likes of Archie Gray and Sam Byram for a starting spot under Farke in the Championship as Leeds look to win promotion back to the Premier League.
There were further departures last month, with Ian Poveda leaving for Sheffield Wednesday, Darko Gyabi joining Plymouth Argyle and Sean McGurk signing for Swindon Town.
The beginning of 2024 also allowed Leeds to secure new deals for Gray and Mateo Joseph, and the club’s attention will now be on planning for the summer, with a new deal for Wilfried Gnonto also in the pipeline.
Leeds also have a number of players out on season-long loans following relegation last season, including Luis Sinisterra, who looks all set to make his move to Bournemouth a permanent one before the end of the campaign. Another is defender Diego Llorente, currently in Italy with AS Roma, and it looks as if it is just a matter of time until he too completes a full-time Elland Road exit.
Diego Llorente transfer update
According to recent reports, relayed by Get Football News Italy, Roma have an agreement in place with Leeds to sign Llorente permanently for €5m (£4.2m).
However, Llorente’s long-term future may not be in Rome despite a full-time move being on the cards. The report adds that Roma are actually planning to sell the defender once he becomes their player in the summer, looking to make a profit as the Serie A side need to earn €50m from sales.
Llorente, hailed as a “really good player” by former teammate Poveda, has made 27 appearances during the current campaign, only missing a handful of games through injury. The Spaniard is clearly enjoying his time in Italy, saying: “Rome is beautiful, an incredible city, and I think it is almost impossible to find a better place to play football.”
However, his days at Leeds, and also Roma, could well be numbered, so it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up at the beginning of the 2024/25 season.
