Leeds United’s Diego Llorente completes permanent move to Real Betis

Leeds United’s Diego Llorente completes permanent move to Real Betis
By Nancy Froston
Jul 9, 2024

Leeds United defender Diego Llorente has completed a permanent move to Real Betis for an undisclosed fee.

The 30-year-old has spent the past 18 months on loan at Roma, having initially joined the Italian club in January 2022. He had previously extended his Leeds contract until 2026 before departing the west Yorkshire side.

Advertisement

Llorente joined Leeds from Real Sociedad for £18million ($23.1m) in the summer of 2020 ahead of their return to the Premier League.

The Spanish defender made 59 appearances for Leeds in the two and a half years before signing for Roma, then featuring 53 times for the Serie A side.

Betis have already done business with Leeds this summer, with midfielder Marc Roca signing permanently for the Andalusian side after making 37 appearances on loan there last season.

Betis have also been in the market for a centre-back addition this summer having seen Chadi Riad join Crystal Palace for a fee in the region of £15m last month.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Why Rodon and his ready-made partnership really might ease the pain of losing Gray

(Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Nancy Froston

Nancy Froston is The Athletic's Leeds United writer. She previously reported on the EFL covering the Championship, League One and League Two as well as a three year spell writing about Sheffield Wednesday. Follow Nancy on Twitter @nancyfroston