According to a report in The Athletic, Marcelo Bielsa is set to fast-track Diego Llorente back into the first-team at Leeds United.
The Spaniard has made just one appearance for the Whites this season due to suffering a number of injuries in his debut campaign, but we may be seeing him back in the team sooner than we expected.
Indeed, the report claims that Bielsa’s original plan was for Llorente to be slowly bedded back into the side, playing some U23s football to get back up to speed, something we’ve seen the likes of Pablo Hernandez and Rodrigo do already this season.
However, after missing the youth side’s game against Burnley on Monday, it appears that Leeds now have altered their plans for him.
The report states that Llorente didn’t miss the U23s game due to injury or fitness problems, it’s because he’s been earmarked for an accelerated return to the first-team.
Whether or not that means we’ll be seeing him play against Brighton at the weekend remains to be seen, but it is interesting to note this change of heart from Bielsa.
Llorente has been fully involved in first-team training this week, and it looks as though the Whites’ £18 million signing may finally be about to hit his stride at Elland Road.
Fingers crossed, the Spaniard can make a real impact between now and the end of the season and he can stay clear of the injury issues that have plagued the early portion of his Leeds United career.
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