Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Pascal Struijk has waxed-lyrical about Diego Llorente, praising the Leeds United centre-half.
The Spaniard played alongside Struijk on Monday as the Whites faced off against Liverpool, and he grabbed all of the headlines with his late equaliser.
The strike at Elland Road was Llorente’s first goal for Leeds, and as you can imagine, Struijk was asked about the 27-year-old when he was interviewed on the radio.
“He’s been really good ever since he came in. He’s good on the ball and driving forward, and defending as well. It’s been easy, he’s just like the others really, whenever I step in they make it easy for me as well, so everyone, not just him, everyone has been really good to me,” Struijk said.
The youngster was then asked about Llorente’s journey to this point after joining in the summer and suffering a spate of injuries that have limited his appearances this term.
“Well, it’s very hard to come to a different country and picking up an injury for so long. Now he’s come back and he’s scored his first goal. I don’t want to say it’s very inspirational, but it really is. He’s shown great mental strength going through this process.”
Struijk is absolutely right about Llorente.
When you come to a new country and get injured straight away, it’s so easy to have the wrong mindset.
Just look at someone like Jean-Kevin Augustin, last year he joined Leeds and looked set to be a star in the Championship, but he never managed to get himself fully fit after his initial injury woes.
Llorente has come out of the other end brilliantly, and it looks as though he’s going to be a real star for Leeds.
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