Diego Llorente to travel with Real Betis for pre-season on Wednesday after Leeds United exit agreed
Real Betis expect to have Diego Llorente available to travel for their pre-season tour on Wednesday 10 July after agreeing on a deal with Leeds, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Writing on their website (8 July), the Spanish news outlet reports that Manuel Pellegrini expects to have the 30-year-old central defender as part of his squad when the La Liga side leave for their tour in Austria.
Betis had a £2.5m bid accepted by the Whites for the defender after two previous bids were rejected [Marca, 8 July], with the defender not part of Daniel Farke’s plans for the 2024/25 season.
Leeds United happy to see the back of Diego Llorente
It was a wild time when the Whites were in a position to splash £18million to bring Llorente to Elland Road to help with their push to stay in the Premier League, but it never quite worked for him.
The Spaniard struggled with the physicality and pace of the division and he quickly lost his place in the team, before being allowed to move on loan to Roma 18 months ago.
But he failed to really impress there and they refused to trigger their buy option both times, which has left the Whites in a position where they needed to get as much cash as they could for a player with no future at the club.
£2.5million isn’t a lot of money for an international-level defender, but in reality, it’s more than they’re likely to get from anyone else and it gets his wages off the books for the new season too.
The money will almost certainly be reinvested into the squad and allow Farke to bring in players that he wants there, but also who want to be there to help the club get back to the Premier League.
In other Leeds news, one midfielder is set to agree personal terms to leave Elland Road permanently.
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