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Ben Parker has claimed that Diego Llorente looks like a good player after making his Leeds United debut at the weekend, as supporters got their first chance to see him in action.

The defender was substituted on within 10 minutes of the Premier League fixture away to Chelsea following an injury to teammate Robin Koch.

Aged 27, Llorente is a high-profile signing that arrived at Elland Road in the summer window, but he only made his debut on Saturday in the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Spain international was thrown in at the deep end with a surprise first-half substitution away to Chelsea, but for the most part showed why the Yorkshire giants decided to sign him from Real Sociedad.

Parker has suggested the centre-back will need more competitive minutes to get up to full speed as he returns from his own injury, but overall was positive about his debut.

“I think it’s a performance where a guy has been out injured for quite a long time, making his debut coming on against Chelsea,” Parker told the LS11 podcast.

“You’re going to have good moments, you’re going to have indifferent kind of moments. But overall what I saw of him I think there’s good player in there, again just needs more minutes.”

TBR’s View:

With Koch requiring surgery on a knee problem, it looks like Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa doesn’t have any time to ease Llorente into the side and needs him to hit the ground running.

He’s an experienced centre-half with La Liga and international experience already under his belt, but he’s going to have to learn on the job when it comes to English football.

Leeds have home games with West Ham and Newcastle United just around the corner before a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, where it’s key that they get a decent return of points to try kick on.