Leeds United looked set to sanction the permanent sale of one of their players who is out on loan, but a fresh report claims he could instead make a shock return to the first-team.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds signings
The Whites signed Joe Rodon from Tottenham Hotspur on a temporary basis over the summer, alongside Ethan Ampadu who is also capable of operating as a centre-back, so this allowed Daniel Farke to move on some of his existing players in that same position.
The Elland Road outfit sanctioned the departures of Robin Koch and Maximilian Wober until the end of the season to remove them from the wage bill following relegation to the Championship, but there was another defensive squad member who left the building on loan back in January.
Related
“Relentless” Leeds player wanted permanently by his loan club
The Whites are facing a battle to hold onto one of their loan stars at the end of the season.
Having first joined Leeds in 2020, Diego Llorente has gone on to make 59 senior appearances to date, but the 30-year-old completed a switch to Serie A side AS Roma at the start of the year, with his deal there set to expire upon the conclusion of the campaign (Transfermarkt – Llorente statistics). However, Spain’s former international does have an obligation to buy included in the agreement that the two parties arranged before heading overseas.
Roma and Leeds change tact over Llorente
Italian outlet Roma Metropolitan Magazine (via Sport Witness) first reported that AS Roma want to retain Llorente beyond next summe, when he “could be redeemed” for a fee close to €5m (£4m).
However, a newer report this week from larger publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via SW) claims Roma do not feel Llorente is worth the obligation fee. And, if their information is correct, the Italian side can avoid the obligation if Llorente does not hit a certain number of games, leading to a shock return to Yorkshire.
When Llorente was still at Leeds for the first half of last season, he ranked as the club’s overall 14th best-performing player out of 29 squad members, showing how middle of the road and average his performances were compared to his peers, so the 49ers group should really be looking to shift him on (WhoScored – Leeds statistics).
Standing at 6 foot 1, Madrid’s native also currently pockets £57k-per-week in Italy (AS Roma salaries), which would make him the fourth-highest earner on the books if he was to return (Leeds salaries), so he needs to be removed from the wage bill where the extra cash could be used to generate funds to put towards new signings.
As previously described by journalist Josh Bunting, Llorente is typically “poor” when it comes to making individual errors and reading the game, so when you consider all of that, alongside the fact that he isn’t getting any younger, it has to be a no-brainer to get rid of him permanently at the end of the season.
