Could Diego Llorente’s Leeds debut now come sooner than expected?

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Leeds United have been dealt yet another injury blow, with the club confirming on their official website on Tuesday that Kalvin Phillips could be out for up to six weeks.

Phillips joins a handful of teammates who are already sidelined with injury. Liam Cooper pulled out of the starting lineup in the warm-up ahead of Monday’s clash with Wolves.

Meanwhile, Adam Forshaw has been out of action for over a year now.

Losing Phillips is potentially a huge blow for Leeds. Marcelo Bielsa has a number of options he could potentially turn to over the coming weeks. But it looks fair to say that replacing Phillips is about as difficult as it could get for the Whites boss.

It is not going to be easy for Bielsa. But perhaps losing Phillips could open the door for one teammate to move just a little closer to making his Leeds debut.

Another player currently on the sidelines is summer signing Diego Llorente. Llorente was an unused substitute against Manchester City before the international break. However, he picked up a groin injury while away with Spain.

According to the club’s official website at the time, the 27-year-old was set to be out for up to three weeks.

Llorente set to return while Phillips is still sidelined

It has been just over a week since that update. So Llorente still has just under a fortnight on the sidelines – as long as he suffers no setbacks.

But when he does return, he is surely in line to almost immediately move into the starting lineup.

He can play as a holding midfielder, so he may join the contenders to replace Phillips. But he could also come into his more natural position of centre-back, allowing Robin Koch to push forward if required.

He previously looked set to face a further wait to get into the side with Cooper and Koch forming a promising partnership and Phillips impressing in the top flight.

But Phillips is now set to be out for several weeks after Llorente has returned. So it is surely fair to suggest that Leeds may have little choice but to hand him his debut at the next available opportunity.