On March 25th, we covered claims from Italy that AS Roma are considering paying Leeds United the €5m fee required to make Diego Llorente’s loan stay permanent.
A week later, TuttoMercatoWeb reported the Serie A side have ‘sort of a gentleman’s agreement’ with Leeds to buy the defender.
That is no longer the case if a fresh report from Gazzetta dello Sport is to be believed.
Last summer, Leeds allowed the Spaniard to return to Roma on loan with an option to buy, and also let Rasmus Kristensen join them on a dry loan deal. Gazzetta takes a look at the futures of those players who are currently with the Giallorossi on temporary deals.
Roma are fifth in the table, three points behind fourth placed Bologna. They want reduce loan and instead own more players, and a lot will depend on whether they qualify for the Champions League next season. If not, they will focus on youngsters.
The Italian club signed seven players on loan this season, to avoid spending money, and not breach financial fair play rules. Gazzetta say this strategy hasn’t paid off for them.
Kristensen, 26, has been a disappointment and ‘will certainly return to Leeds’ at the end of this season. Llorente and Angeliño, the latter on loan from RB Leipzig, each have a €5m purchase option.
The newspaper claims it’s easier for Roma to invest in buying Angeliño than the 30-year-old centre-back. This clearly suggests the Italian club are now backing out from the sort of gentleman’s agreement they had with Leeds to buy Llorente.
