Italian media destroy Leeds United loanee Diego Llorente after what he did in AS Roma defeat v Juventus
Leeds United loanee Diego Llorente played the full 90 minutes as AS Roma suffered defeat at the hands of Juventus in the Italian Serie A on Saturday (30 December).
Adrien Rabiot’s second-half goal earned Juventus a 1-0 home win against Roma which meant Jose Mourinho’s relinquished their spot in the Serie A top six.
The Spanish defender has been an ever-present figure for Jose Mourinho’s team starting 15 of their 18 Serie A games with talk of Roma hoping to sign him permanently for a figure close to £4.3million (Roma Metropolitan, 20 December).
However, Italian news outlet Corriere Dello Sport (30 December) completely savaged the centre-back for his display on Saturday night, writing: “What a struggle with Vlahovic. The Spaniard is unable to keep it so after nineteen minutes he is forced to thank Mancini for the result-saving intervention, then at the start of the second half he makes an omelette by letting his backheel pass behind him which triggered Rabiot.”
Get him gone
Given £6million-a-year wages at Elland Road, Leeds United must get him off his books soon enough and that is certainly likely to happen at some point during the season [Phil Hay, The Square Ball, 9 September]
It has seemed rather clear for some time that Llorente doesn’t have much of a permanent future at Elland Road beyond the end of his loan spell with Roma and Leeds United should accept whatever fee arrives at their door for the defender.
The 30-year-old has a contract with the Whites until the summer of 2026, so they will hope to receive a decent fee for him at the end of the season.
His current wages are a huge weight on the wage bill at Elland Road and if the club are to move forward with their own recruitment strategy in the coming months, getting him off the books will be crucial.
The Spaniard massively struggled at Leeds United throughout his time in West Yorkshire and it seems he’s experiencing the same issues at AS Roma if the Italian media’s scathing is to be believed. He’s got to be binned.
In other Leeds United news, Gary Rowett has admitted that he is “fed up” following several controversial decisions against West Brom