Leeds United decided to part ways with sporting director Victor Orta back in May shortly before the club’s relegation from the Premier League.
The Spanish chief had plenty of highs and lows at Elland Road and his work in the transfer market left a lot to be desired, particularly towards the end of his time in Yorkshire.
One signing that has turned out to be a disaster for the Whites is central defender Diego Llorente, who is currently out on loan at Roma this season.
The 30-year-old stopper was snapped up from Real Sociedad for a reported fee of £18m in the summer of 2020. It was claimed that Leeds wanted to sign Josko Gvardiol from Dinamo Zagreb for the same figure but lost out to RB Leipzig in that particular race.
Diego Llorente’s form for Leeds
Llorente went on to play 59 competitive matches for the Whites across two-and-a-half seasons with the club before his loan move to Roma at the start of this year.
His availability left a lot to be desired during his debut campaign in England as the defender missed 23 games through three separate injury issues.
He was then able to play 28 Premier League matches during the 2021/22 campaign but Leeds only kept five clean sheets in those outings.
The experienced dud then struggled during the first half of last season as he only made eight top-flight appearances before his January exit.
Sky Sports pundit Sue Smith described him as being “really poor” against Brentford in September 2022 and Llorente made two errors that led to goals for the opposition in those eight games.
The fee Leeds could receive for Llorente
It was recently reported by Roma Metropolitan Magazine that the Italian side could strike a deal for his services on a permanent basis for a fee within the region of €5m (£4.3m) next summer.
The Spanish giant has been a solid performer for the Serie A outfit with zero errors that have led to shots or goals for the opposition in 14 league appearances this term, and has not been a liability for his team.
He has won 65% of his defensive duels and completed 91% of his attempted passes in those 14 games, which suggests that the Leeds flop has been a reliable operator in and out of possession.
However, his current performances for Roma do not take away from how much of a disaster the transfer was for the Whites if they end up cashing in on him for £4.3m.
It is a staggering £13.7m loss on the £18m that was spent to secure his services ahead of the 2020/21 campaign under Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds did not get much in the way of quality displays on the pitch, due to the aforementioned injury and performance issues, and now look set to make a major loss on the money they paid for him.
Therefore, Orta had a disaster with the signing of Llorente from Sociedad back in 2020 and the now-Sevilla sporting director may not look back on that piece of business as one of his finer moments at the club.
To rub salt in the wound, RB Leipzig went on to sell Gvardiol, who was the preferred target for Leeds ahead of the Spaniard, to Manchester City for a reported fee of £77.6m earlier this year.
