George Overhill

Mon 26 June 2023 18:10, UK

Diego Llorente’s return to Roma is set to include an obligation to make the deal permanent that will be worth around €9million [£7.7million] to Leeds United, according to Roma Today.

The Spanish centre-back first moved to the Italian capital in a surprise January loan, with a €20million [£17.1million] clause in his deal that appeared set to net the Whites a major unexpected windfall.

But despite the 29-year-old acquitting himself well under Jose Mourinho it eventually turned out that the clause was only an option and the Europa League finalists had no intention of redeeming for that amount, sending the two clubs back to the negotiating table this summer.

Sky Italy’s Gianluca Di Marzio reported on 20 June that an agreement had been reached with Roma chief Tiago Pinto for Llorente to return to the Stadio Olimpico, with only the final details of whether to include a permanent clause still to iron out.

According to Roma Today it appears that decision has been reached with the defender “pushing” to return to Mourinho’s squad.

The second loan deal will reportedly contain an obligation to buy the former Real Sociedad player for the “much lower figures” than last time, with a number around €9million on the cards.

Satisfactory

Leeds United would probably have accepted that amount for Roma to sign Llorente in the previous loan deal given he hasn’t really been a hit at Elland Road for any length of time.

But in the wake of relegation, and with players looking likely to leave for very little, it would represent a decent deal to get almost £8million for a player who had no future at the club anyway.

It looked like the expensive option in the first arrangement, coupled with the quick move to sign Evan N’Dicka from Eintracht Frankfurt, might have seen this opportunity go begging.

So if this is confirmed soon it would be a positive outcome for both clubs and Llorente himself, and should set a good precedent if there needs to be further talks on Rasmus Kristensen somewhere down the line.

The Denmark international is also set to leave Elland Road for Rome imminently so developments on Llorente suggest an agreement could be reached for a permanent move in future.

Whenever a new manager is finally announced in West Yorkshire they are going to need to set about restocking the defence as a priority, with two on the brink of leaving and Robin Koch likely to follow, from a unit that proved to be a regular weakness in the past two years.

In other Leeds United news, a Premier League side has attempted to sign a Whites player but failed to trigger his release clause.