Leeds United transfer news: Diego Llorente's Roma loan could become permanent
The centre-back has found first-team opportunities scarce since Leeds lost 5-2 at Brentford in early September.
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Hide AdHe has only made one Premier League start since, in defeat at Leicester City.
In that context it was a suprise when Llorente signed a new contract two days before Christmas but in hindsight it seems to have just been a case of Leeds protecting their asset,
The 29-year-old was one of the club's first major signings after winning promotion back to the Premier League in 2020 when he joined from Real Sociedad for around £18m.
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Hide AdThe Whites are expected to recoup that and more if he remains in Serie A beyond this season.
Llorente's lack of recent first-team opportunities cannot have helped when he failed to make the cut for Spain's World Cup squad.
In all he played 59 games for Leeds, scoring four goals.