Leeds United have been one of the most active teams in this transfer window, and this week their spending spree continued with the arrival of Diego Llorente from Real Sociedad.
The Spaniard’s arrival came from out of the blue earlier this week, as no sooner was he linked had he signed, fortunately bypassing any sort of long, boring saga.
However, he wasn’t United’s first-choice signing at centre-half, with the club’s pursuit of Josko Gvardiol being highly-publicised, but an inability to convince the player saw that deal collapse, with the Croatian now tipped to join RB Leipzig.
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As much as Gvardiol could have been a star, signing an 18-year-old with no experience in a top European league is never advisable for a newly-promoted side, especially when he is going to cost you the best part of £20m.
Victor Orta may have wanted Gvardiol over Llorente, but his failure to close out that deal may have inadvertently led to one of his best decisions yet.
Gvardiol’s inexperience is a huge red flag, especially for a club that has conceded seven goals in their opening two league games this season, so it’s clear that a 27-year-old Spain international with over 130 games in La Liga to his name was the safer option than signing an 18-year-old who could easily flop.
Time will tell whether or not Gvardiol turns out better than Llorente, but Leeds aren’t in the same position as a club such as RB Leipzig where they can wait for players to develop, they need results right now, and that’s exactly what Llorente should provide them.
Taking risks isn’t something you want to be doing straight after promotion, and while Orta wanted to take a punt on Gvardiol, he may end up taking a huge sigh of relief when he looks back on this one with hindsight.
The post Signing Llorente over Gvardiol was a masterstroke by Orta first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
