Leeds United ace spotted arriving for medical as another transfer exit set to be completed
Diego Llorente has been spotted arriving for his Real Betis medical ahead of leaving Leeds United in footage posted by El Quiringuito TV.
The Spanish outlet published video on Twitter on 8 July to show the defender getting out of a car at a medical clinic for tests.
He is now on the brink of completing a permanent move to the Seville-based side, who have already signed Marc Roca this summer.
After spending two consecutive loans with Roma over the past 18 months he is now expected to leave for a fee of £2.53million according to BBC Sport (8 July).
Diego Llorente to follow Charlie Cresswell out of Leeds United
Leeds United have essentially been trying to sell on Llorente for the past part of two years but could never convince Roma that he was worth the permanent investment.
Any fee is better than none, especially with the Whites already having sold Archie Gray with millions to be paid in past transfer fees this summer [Yorkshire Evening Post, 28 May], but the size of Llorente’s is surely a long way short of what the Elland Road hierarchy was hoping for when they set about signing central defenders to new contracts two seasons ago.
Although they locked in Pascal Struijk and were rewarded by his elevation to key man under Daniel Farke last term the Whites failed to secure terms for Robin Koch when the German would likely have brought in a decent fee this summer if his contract hadn’t expired.
Farke has already seen Charlie Cresswell sold to Toulouse, although the manager has never seemed sold on the former Millwall loanee, and the club have failed to agree a new contract with Liam Cooper [TEAMtalk, 3 July].
So Leeds United are currently left with Struijk, who is returning from a long-term injury, key man Joe Rodon after his permanent return from Tottenham, and midfielder Ethan Ampadu who dropped into the backline for the second half of last season.
So unless Max Wober returns, which is now deemed unlikely [Florian Plettenberg, 6 July] there looks to be a clear requirement to sign another centre back this summer.
In other Leeds United news, a Premier League ace is a “huge” admirer of Farke as a transfer update emerges.
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