Unable to find the regular game time he wanted under Jesse Marsch at Leeds United, Diego Llorente was sent to AS Roma on loan for the rest of the season.
An option to buy was included in the deal with the Serie A side, meaning that if the Spaniard were to impress José Mourinho and Tiago Pinto with his performances, the Elland Road side could make some money back on their original expenditure.
The problem to date, however, is that the Portuguese manager has failed to trust the Leeds loanee, giving him just the one minute on the pitch in the league since he arrived, which was at the end of the first game he was there for against Empoli.
The good news for the Whites, however, is that Mourinho is now set to hand Llorente his first start, which could be a huge deal should he impress.
He has been helped by the fact Roger Ibañez is suspended and Marash Kumbulla has failed to perform when called upon, but it could be all the Leeds man needs to establish himself at the heart of Roma’s plans for the rest of the season.
TuttoMercatoWeb state that ‘it will be an important opportunity to start climbing the hierarchies’, as he has been the fifth choice to date.
They state that Mourinho does have a clear policy when it comes to players being in his squad on a simple loan, but that isn’t the case for Llorente, who clearly went to Italy with a view to stay there.
Goal Italia add a bit more to this, stating that there is also ‘a large portion of Llorente’s future at stake’, because we all know what one good performance can do for confidence.
