Diego Llorente, a center back for Leeds United, is most likely going to sign a long-term contract with AS Roma in 2024. The contract has an obligation-to-buy, which will activate if Llorente participates in 50% of the games this season.
Leeds has too much on their plate to worry about what their loaned-out players are doing, but considering how many of them left, it’s worth keeping a watch on for supporters.
Many of them haven’t found the grass to be greener on the other side. Roma will be facing Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen, two Whites defenders, for a second term.
Llorente is taking advantage of the opportunity to try again in the Italian capital after making enough of an impression in the second part of the previous campaign.
After losing to Bologna, Roma is currently three points outside of the top four in the Serie A and faces holders Napoli tomorrow. This is not the team’s best start to the season.
Llorente, however, has a good possibility of signing a long-term contract at the Stadio Olimpico because of an obligation-to-buy that is valued at “nearly” €5 million (£4.32 million). This buyout would be activated if Llorente plays in 50% of Roma’s games this season, according to Roma Metropolitan Magazine.
In the event that Leeds are not promoted to the Premier League this season, negotiating such a deal would be far simpler.
Due to injuries to Chris Smalling and Marash Kumbulla in Roma’s defense, Llorente has a better chance of reaching that 50%, while Evan Ndicka is likely to miss the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
This season, he has been a mainstay in their lineup across all competitions:
| Diego Llorente’s season in numbers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Stats | Serie A | Europa League |
| Appearances (mins) | 14 (1050) | 5 (407) |
| Clean sheets | 3 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 0 |
| Pass success (%) | 91.1 | 87.3 |
At present, Llorente has featured in just over 86% of Roma’s fixtures in all competitions this season. Roma played 55 games last season, which means that with Llorente’s 19 outings so far, he would only have to play a further four more games to eclipse 50% (at that rate) and trigger a permanent exit from Leeds.
For a long, we needed to get better at Llorente, and even if we didn’t when he departed in January, the team is still without him.
Even while his income of £4.32 million allows the club to avoid a loss on his amortisation, it still demonstrates how much his stock has fallen.
Even though he signed a new contract last season, only one month before departing for Jose Mourinho’s Roma, this tiny cost still applies.
