Leeds United player expected to exit in ‘next few hours’ – ‘Agreement in principle’ now reached on transfer

On Thursday, the Italian media were adamant that Diego Llorente’s move from Leeds United to AS Roma was almost official, and an evening update gave us some more information on that.

It came from Roma Giallorossa, who brought an exclusive claiming that the Spaniard will be returning to Rome after an ‘agreement in principle’ was found between the two clubs.

It’s stated the defender ‘will return’ to the Serie A side from Leeds, after sources close to the negotiation told them everything is ‘being defined in a positive way’.

This all came after Roma told the Elland Road side they would not be paying the pre-agreed €18m from the initial loan deal struck in January, which kicked off a new set of talks.

José Mourinho wanted to keep the Leeds man around, and that’s why Tiago Pinto has been fighting tooth and nail to get something sorted, which appears to be on the way.

The new talks have led to ‘a renewal of the loan with a lower redemption’ than the €18m, suggesting any deal next summer would be cheaper, and thus more likely, for Roma to pull off.

It’s added that ‘a lot of optimism filters’ between all parties involved, and that’s why the website believe they can confidently say the player will return to work under Mourinho ‘in the next few hours’.