In the midst of the transfer saga surrounding Archie Gray, Leeds United are close to confirming another permanent exit of a player to a Spanish club for a fee of £5m.
The Whites have been busy sorting out the future of the players on their books before the enter the market themselves and look to make some new signings with Gray expected to join Brentford.
Indeed, the Bees made a £40m offer but now in a surprise turn of events, that offer has been rejected by Leeds. Gray has plenty of other interest, in the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Villa and West Ham.
But he is not the only Leeds player that could depart permanently in the next day or two. Marc Roca has already joined Spanish side Real Betis for a fee around the £4m mark, and another could now join him.
Leeds player set to join Marc Roca at Betis for a fee of £5m
The 49ers have been keen to sort out the future of Victor Orta’s loan army. Robin Koch and Luis Sinisterra have been joined by Roca in leaving permanently, while Jack Harrison has returned to Everton on loan.
Brenden Aaronson is back at Leeds and that leaves Max Wober, Rasmus Kristensen and Diego Llorente left. Wober is at Euro 2024 with Austria, while Rasmus Kristensen’s Denmark were knocked out last night.
For Diego Llorente, it has been a frustrating month or two. A brilliant season with Roma had given him hope of completing a permanent move there, especially having spent 18 months with the Italian giants.
Diego Llorente close to permanent Leeds exit, but not to Roma
Leeds, Llorente and Roma even had a gentleman’s agreement to do a deal for around £4m. But Roma have seemingly chosen against signing the Spain international, and instead, he is heading back to Spain.
A report from Italian outlet Il Messaggero says that Llorente is set to join Roca’s Betis for a fee of £5m. A deal is close and should go through as per the report, after Roma decided against a permanent deal.
But it looks as if Leeds will get Llorente off the wage bill and removed from the books completely, doing a deal with Betis again. The second time in the space of a week perhaps, if a deal goes through soon.
