Following his fantastic last-minute equaliser against Fiorentina at the weekend, Leeds United loanee Diego Llorente is the subject of a dedicated article by Corriere dello Sport on Tuesday.
The centre-back is currently with AS Roma until the end of the season, but an option to buy was agreed last summer for them to make the move permanent if they so wished.
This is what Corriere focus on at the end of the article, trying to work out whether the Serie A side ‘can and will’ trigger it to keep the Leeds player beyond this season.
They start off very positively, explaining that ‘it is likely’ the money will be sent to Elland Road after Tiago Pinto agreed a ‘good price’ of €5m with the Championship side.
Despite the Spaniard being 31 years of age in August, he has ‘adapted well’ to Italian football under José Mourinho and now Daniele De Rossi, with him seen as being a ‘reliable defender who is still intact’ physically.
Furthermore, ‘it is unlikely’ those in charge of the club will ‘get rid of him’, mostly because they know it will be difficult to replace him adequately at such a ‘modest price’, and he would be a ‘smart investment’ to make for the short to medium term future.
Therefore, it seems Leeds can expect some money landing into their bank account this summer unless something drastic happens between now and then, and forget about having to deal with the 30-year-old, who is under contract with them until 2026 as things stand.
