Marcelo Bielsa raves about £18m Leeds star who ‘plays with a lot of personality’

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Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has raved about the quality of Diego Llorente.

Llorente, 27, had an injury-hit debut season at Elland Road last year. However, the Spanish defender finished it strongly in the final few months to impress as a regular starter.

The £18million ace is a ball-playing centre-back who’s slotted in effortlessly to the style of play. For instance, he’s so comfortable building possession from the defence.

He was a part of the Spain squad at this summer’s Euro 2020 competition, but didn’t get any minutes on the pitch. This should mean he’s fresh going into the new campaign.

Bielsa has given a glowing verdict on Llorente during an interview with Sky Sports.

“He’s a very calm player who makes very few errors. He plays with a lot of personality and there are no aspects of his game where one can see weaknesses,” he said.

“In football today, the players who spend most time on the ball are the central defenders, so he also has an important role in terms of distribution and starting our play. He is a player who has a lot of ability in that sense as well as defensively.”

Diego Llorente to shine for Leeds in 2021/22 season

Leeds have a number of talented players in their ranks, including the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Raphinha. However, they’ve got a colossus at the back as well.

Llorente showed enough last year to suggest he can go from strength to strength during his time in Yorkshire.

His recognition from Bielsa is no surprise because he’s exactly the kind of profile he wants in a player.

It’s going to be intriguing to see if a partnership alongside Pascal Struijk is allowed to develop.

In other news, Report: Leeds keen on 22-year-old Englishman, clubs ‘not a million miles apart’ in valuation