Diego Llorente spotted in Leeds training video ahead of Wolves clash

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Leeds United have posted a video of their training session on LUTV ahead of Friday night’s clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers and it includes a brief appearance of previously injured defender Diego Llorente.

Llorente, 27, has only managed two senior Premier League appearances for Leeds since completing a move from Real Sociedad last summer. Injured immediately after his move while on Spain duty, he finally made his debut in December.

He replaced Robin Koch against Chelsea but suffered another injury. Recovering from that, he started at Newcastle but after 10 minutes during the 2-1 win – Llorente went down with a hamstring injury. Now, he is hoping his injuries are behind him.

Indeed, Leeds have now been without Llorente for four matches not including the Newcastle match but he is edging closer to another return – and the Spain international was spotted next to Patrick Bamford at Thorp Arch just before training.

It is somewhat of a surprise to see £22,000-a-week defender (Spotrac) Llorente back in training, given there had been no suggestion that the defender was due to be involved in the near future.

TBR’s view – Who drops out if Llorente starts?

Llorente is not expected to start against Wolves. Even if he has returned to training, Marcelo Bielsa might look to give him game time with the 23’s before bringing him back into the senior side – given his lack of luck with injuries this season.

But when he is eventually available, who does he replace? Liam Cooper continues to improve and adapt to Premier League football, while Pascal Struijk has been excellent – scoring his first professional goal on Sunday and attracting Belgium interest.

It is an interesting one, but surely Struijk drops out if Llorente is fit – given that Cooper is captain? Time will tell.