Tony Dorigo raves about Diego Llorente as Leeds cruise past Southampton

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Diego Llorente finally completed 90 minutes for the first time in a Leeds United shirt since joining the club from Real Sociedad as the Whites beat Southampton 3-0 at Elland Road – and Tony Dorigo has raved about the Spain international.

Llorente, 27, has endured a nightmare spell at Leeds so far. Having joined the club from Sociedad, he instantly suffered a long-term groin injury while on Spain duty. Making his debut as an early substitute against Chelsea, he suffered another injury.

He returned against Newcastle at the end of last month – but instantly suffered a hamstring problem inside 10 minutes. But he has recovered and started in a back three against the Saints, as Leeds earned a 3-0 win over Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

Llorente impressed alongside Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk, helping Leeds keep their first clean sheet since the win over Palace at the start of the month – and just their second in their last nine games. Dorigo raved about the ex-Real Madrid man.

“Great for Llorente, gets 90 minutes and we saw what we’re going to get in the coming weeks as well. A class player, who is just getting used to his teammates but looks a great addition for us,” Dorigo told LUTV about the £22,000-a-week man (Spotrac).

TBR’s view – Llorente return is crucial for Leeds

Liam Cooper has been excellent in recent matches, and the breakthrough talent of Pascal Struijk is certainly impressive. But both are left-footed defenders and having that unbalance in the middle of the defence is a slight concern.

If Leeds are able to bring in a quality right-footed centre-back, such as Llorente, it provides the necessary balance to the Leeds defence. There was more than enough proof of that as Leeds kept Southampton at bay with consummate ease.