When a club spends £18m on a 27-year-old, you would expect them to play him.
Unfortunately for Diego Llorente, whom Leeds United decided to open their chequebook for during the last transfer window, that hasn’t happened.
Brought in alongside Robin Koch to shore up Marcelo Bielsa’s defence ahead of a tough season in the Premier League, the Spaniard was seen as a decent purchase, but it seems the Argentine manager has yet to fully trust him.
Llorente has only appeared on the bench once at Elland Road, in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City in the fourth fixture of the league calendar, and hasn’t been seen since.
That’s a big problem for him, especially with the Euros right around the corner as Luis Enrique starts putting together some sort of idea of what his squad might look like next summer.
El Desmarque explain that with Gabriel Paulista soon expected to ‘sign the Constitution’, thus making him available for the Spain national team as he has no caps for his home country, Brazil, there is likely to be even more competition for spaces.
Sergio Ramos is a shoe in, with Pau Torres forging a partnership alongside him, and the third spot would likely go to Iñigo Martínez, meaning it’s a battle for that fourth place in the pecking order.
That’s where it’s the ‘most disputed’ and where Paulista would come in.
Also fighting for that spot is Diego Llorente, ‘who has already been called up with Spain’, as is Eric García, currently at Manchester City.
Finally, there’s Mario Hermoso, now at Atlético Madrid, making it four players battling for one spot.
Unfortunately for Llorente, he’s described as the ‘weakest piece of the puzzle’ as his move to Leeds ‘can complicate things’ since he has yet to make an appearance.
That’s not good news for a player who will be wanting to add to his six caps, meaning he is going to have to convince Bielsa to give him more minutes at Elland Road sharply or he is likely to miss out.
