Former Leeds United defender Diego Llorente comments on mixed Elland Road spell

Former Leeds United defender Diego Llorente has acknowledged that he needed to 'overcome a difficult start' to eventually make an impression at Elland Road.

Llorente currently finds himself at Spanish side Real Betis, where he has established himself as a key player since joining them in the summer.

However, it has taken the centre-back time to find some stability after his stint with Leeds and a loan spell at Roma.

The Spain international was restricted to 59 appearances for Leeds in all competitions across a two-and-a-half-year period before spending an 18-month timeframe in Italy.

Across his 112 outings for both clubs, Llorente did not always show the kind of form that encouraged Leeds to spend £18m on his signature in September 2020.

That was a time shortly before the Premier League started its first-ever Covid-hit campaign after the previous games in the 2019-20 were completed in the summer.

'I had a hard time'

Speaking to Diario de Sevilla during the international break, the 31-year-old has revealed that he struggled to adapt to moving to a new country at that particular point.

© Imago

Llorente also missed a large portion of the season through groin and hamstring injuries, not settling into the team until the back end of February.

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."

Second Premier League chance?

A recent report has claimed that Aston Villa are contemplating whether to make an approach for Llorente during the January transfer window.

That said, Llorente holds a four-year contract at Estadio Benito Villamarin and is the only Betis outfield player to start every La Liga fixture since the middle of August.