Many Leeds United supporters have been responding to a recent Twitter post from The Athletic’s Phil Hay in which he shared a tweet from Real Sociedad confirming the club have reached an agreement in principle with the Whites regarding Diego Llorente.
The 27-year-old centre-back has five caps for the Spanish national team to his name and the deal bringing him to Elland Road is said to be worth £18m (as per Transfermarkt).
Llorente was a regular for the La Liga outfit last season, making 29 appearances in the top-flight and according to WhoScored, his average performance rating was 6.51/10.
Following the update, here is how a sample of the Leeds faithful have responded.
Any idea why this transfer has been made? Him and Koch will both expect to start, and you can’t drop the captain. It seems like unless all 3 are playing it seems like an excessive amount of money to spend on a back up CB.
— Ziffy ?? (@NZiffy) September 22, 2020
Great news.
— Nick (@nick_arthurs) September 22, 2020
Oh yes https://t.co/TRjW8AGL4x
— Zak Orton (@zakorton1) September 22, 2020
Judging by the comments of the Sociedad fans they seem completely indifferent to Llorente leaving & are astonished they got such a big fee for him…
Must confess there feels a certain desperation to this signing…#Lufc— Ayub Patel (@AyubPatel123) September 22, 2020
Their fans seem absolutely beside themselves with joy that he’s left ?
— Mark Hollings (@markydh) September 22, 2020
Are you pleased to learn Diego Llorente is close to completing his move to Leeds?
Yes
No
Judging by the above responses, it seems these fans aren’t particularly excited by the prospect of the player’s imminent arrival, however, there were others who were a little more positive about what Llorente can bring to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Get him in ! Quality player and a better signing than Ben White would have been
— Mark P Makey (@markpmakey) September 22, 2020
Well, we wanted cover for the CB position and we will shortly have a current Spain international ! And some “fans” still find a way to be negative! ???
— MikeyLUFC (@MikeyLUFCALAW) September 22, 2020
Big signing this ?
— Nathan Birch (@NathanB30426880) September 22, 2020
The Whites have scored seven goals in their first two Premier League matches but they’ve also conceded seven and therefore it could be argued it is an area in which Bielsa still has some work to do. Perhaps the signing of another Spanish international will help improve the club’s defensive record.