Real Sociedad have confirmed that defender Deigo Llorente is set to leave the club to join Leeds United.
Reports only emerged yesterday claiming that a deal to bring the 27-year-old centre back to Elland Road, and it now appears as though the clubs have moved quickly to get that deal over the line.
In a statement posted on their official website on Tuesday night, Sociedad confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Leeds for the sale of Llorente, and the defender is now set to undergo a medical before completing his move to the Championship title winners.
The La Liga outfit went on to thank Llorente, for his professionalism and commitment to the club in the three years since he joined from Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, it now seems as though the cost of this deal to Leeds is becoming clearer, with The Athletic’s Phil Hay reporting that Leeds will pay €18million (£17m) for the defender, with €4million of that going to Real Madrid as part of an apparent sell-on clause.
It is good to see that Leeds have moved quickly to get this deal done, after seemingly missing out on their top target for the role in the form of Dinamo Zagreb’s Josko Gvardiol, who now looks set to head to RB Leipzig.
Indeed, with more experience at the top level of football, it could even be argued that Llorente will be a more reliable option for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season than the 18-year-old Gvardiol.
However, it is also interesting to note that they look likely to pay more for Llorente than they did for their other central defensive signing this summer, Robin Koch, despite that the fact that it is the formr Freiburg man who looks as though he will be first choice alongside Liam Cooper this season.