“There was no normality” — Player explains he struggled to adapt at Leeds United — Sport Witness 18/11/24
By Naveen Ullal
Diego Llorente was at Leeds United for four years before
leaving them permanently for Real Betis in the summer window.
The Whites let the centre-back spend the last 18 months of
his time at Elland Road on loan at AS Roma. They tried to sign him again, but
the La Liga side won the battle in the end.
Llorente has been a regular for the Andalusian club, making
17 appearances this season. Diario de Sevilla had a chat with the former Leeds
man, who discussed his time with the English club.
Leeds signed the defender from Real Sociedad in September
2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 31-year-old has explained
this made it difficult for him to initially adapt at the club.
The newspaper stated he had a ‘difficult start’ at Leeds.
Responding to that, he said: “It was a complicated period, because many factors
came together. It was still a time of Covid and there was no normality either
on a personal or sporting level.
“It was also my first adventure outside Spain, which implies
a necessary adaptation because the English culture is very different to ours.
“I did have a bit of a hard time in the first few months,
but I got through it thanks to hard work and with the help of the medical
staff. It was a coincidence of life that I ended up going to the Euros that
season after showing a good level.”
In the last window, Daniel Farke’s side allowed Marc Roca to
complete a permanent move to Real Betis. The midfielder and his club teammate,
Pablo Fornals, convinced the defender to join the Spanish club.
When asked who he contacted from Real Betis before joining
them, Llorente explained: “It was a very important decision, and I wanted to
know where I was going to go. This time it was a bit the other way around and
it was more people from Betis who contacted me.
“Then I did speak with Marc Roca and Pablo Fornals, and they
told me what I knew they were going to tell me, that it was a great dressing
room and that there was great ambition to achieve important things. It was a
bit the opposite than with Leeds.”
Victor Orta was the sporting director when Llorente arrived
at Leeds. The former is now at Sevilla, who are Real Betis’ local rivals.
After jokingly stating that Orta is now his “enemy”, the
defender heaped praise on the director.
“I’ve very good memories of him, because in the end in
football, beyond the competition and everything that is sport, there are people
and friendships and Víctor treated me very well when I arrived at Leeds, he
gave me all his support and for that I will always be grateful to him,” he
added.