Marcelo Bielsa Leeds
Diego Llorente has revealed that he watched the Leeds United Amazon documentary when he was injured to learn more about the club.
Diego Llorente said: “I watched the documentary series on Leeds. I was curious and, as I couldn’t help the team by playing, what I wanted to do – apart from get fit as quickly as possible – was get to know the club as well as I could. I also analysed what we did, all the details when we played. When I finally came back I didn’t want it to be so obvious that I was the new guy. I wanted to know everything related to the club, the atmosphere, the supporters, what’s it like on match days, what the routine is, what are the people working at the club like. It was a nice thing to do and watching it brought me closer to Leeds, what it means to play here. I already knew Leeds were a historic club, in the Champions League when I was growing up – there was Jonathan Woodgate, Rio Ferdinand, I remember Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – and although [since then] they hadn’t been in the Premier League, I was aware of them. But I wanted to know more.”
Llorente was a part of Leeds’ recruitment drive following promotion from the Championship, arriving alongside Rodrigo, Robin Koch and Raphinha. The Spanish international was an impressive signing by Leeds and Llorente says the club’s ambition and the chance to work with Marcelo Bielsa were key factors in his decision.
Diego Llorente added: “All that history plays its part when you’re deciding whether to sign. On top of that they were offering me the chance to be part of a stable, ambitious project. I knew I could do things for Leeds and Leeds could do things for me, like give me the chance to play under Bielsa and play in the Premier League. I’d had offers the summer before from Premier League clubs [and did not go], but this summer we analysed them carefully: their aims, what they saw in me.”
Llorente joined Leeds on a four-year contract from Real Sociedad in a £18million transfer in September, but initially struggled with injuries upon his arrival in Yorkshire.
