Potential cash injection looms following loan transfer development

Leeds United’s Diego Llorente is nearing a second successive loan spell away at Roma with a €10M obligatory fee if certain conditions are met, as per Italian outlet Roma Giallorossa.

The report states that Leeds and Roma are ‘moving towards an agreement’, which would see the newly-relegated Championship side profit if specified personal and team performance criteria is reached.

Llorente played just eight times for Leeds before heading across to Italy in January, and he appears one of numerous players primed for an Elland Road exit ahead of a renovation this summer.

What exactly is Diego Llorente’s Leeds United situation?

The central defender arrived in Yorkshire back in 2020 for a fee believed to be in the region of £18M, which had been regarded as something of a coup at the time given his credentials from featuring for Real Sociedad and the Spanish national team, for whom he has earned 10 caps for.

But his time at Leeds has not gone to plan and Llorente struggled for form and regular minutes more recently, prior to joining Jose Mourinho’s Roma on loan.

Llorente played 12 times for the Italian outfit across all competitions and even featured in the Europa League final amid increased playing opportunities towards the end of the season.

Roma had an option to make the move permanent for €18M, but they were unwilling to meet that price tag despite wanting to maintain the Spaniard’s services.

Back at Leeds, his contract had been set to expire at the end of next season, however, he penned fresh terms in December which now keep him at the club until 2026, affording the club more power in negotiations as they no longer have to juggle the risk of losing him for free just yet.

Why would Diego Llorente’s Roma return benefit Leeds United?

Firstly, it would help to lessen the wage bill, thus affording Leeds more scope to level out financially and rebuild their squad ahead of the Championship.

Llorente does not appear to have much of a playing future at Leeds despite recently agreeing a new contract, and he is not a player who you would think would be content with playing second-tier football, either.

Leeds will only want players who are wholly committed and eager to help the club’s bid to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, meaning that any players who do not necessarily fit that criteria could well be shipped out before long.

But, thinking more towards the future, the obligation fee that looks set to be agreed would equate to just over £8.5M, which Leeds would yield the financial rewards from upon the conclusion of the prospective loan deal.

It does represent a loss on what they paid, but all things considered, they will still be happy to receive a moderate fee and, of course, it is a better alternative than losing him for free, which would have been the case if they did not draw up fresh terms last year.