By Pranav Shahaney

30th Jan, 2023 | 2:10pm

Transfer fee revealed as Leeds United defender Diego Llorente set to join Roma on loan with option to buy

Leeds United defender Diego Llorente is reportedly set to join Serie A side Roma on an initial loan with the option to buy.

According to Calciomercato [30 January], it will be an “expensive” loan deal for Jose Mourinho’s men who will pay £8.8million to sign him permanently in the summer, making him the club’s second first-team exit this month after Mateusz Klich.

This will also ensure that Mathias Vina can move to Bournemouth before the 31 January deadline.

Lowballing?

If the aforementioned figure is indeed true then Leeds are making a loss on a player who’s not really kicked on at Elland Road.

The Whites signed him in the summer of 2020 for a fee in the region of £18million on a four-year contract until 2024. [The Athletic]

He moved to Leeds with the reputation of being a Spain international and there were expectations of him being one of the better defenders in the league.

However, it clearly hasn’t turned out to be like that and he’s fallen further down the pecking order with Max Wober’s arrival.

There’s a very good chance that Leeds force an obligation to buy as Llorente is unlikely to play again for the Elland Road outfit.

Hopefully, Leeds can get the Italian outfit to pay more than what they’re currently willing to as this deal does not benefit the Whites a great deal.

In other Leeds United news, the Whites appear to be on the cusp of another January signing as a player’s agent jets into the United Kingdom to conduct final transfer talks.