Diego Javier Llorente Ríos (; born 16 August 1993) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. Having been developed at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, who also loaned him twice to clubs in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, he signed with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

in June 2017. He later joined

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in September 2020. Llorente made his full debut for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 2016. He was part of the squad at Euro 2020.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Llorente joined

's youth system in July 2002, one month shy of his ninth birthday. In the 2012–13 season he made his senior debut, appearing with the C team in a 1–1 away draw against

Caudal Deportivo Caudal Deportivo is a Spanish football team based in Mieres, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1918 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Hermanos Antuña'' (built in 1951), with a capacity of 2,940 spectators. Hist ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 24 March 2013, Llorente made his first appearance with

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in . It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Reserve teams in Spain play in the ...

, coming on as a substitute for injured Iván González in an eventual 4–0 home win over

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

. On 11 May, he was an unused bench player for the main squad in a

match at

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, but finally made his debut in the competition on 1 June, replacing

Álvaro Arbeloa Álvaro Arbeloa Coca (; born 17 January 1983) is a Spanish former footballer, currently manager of Real Madrid Castilla. He predominantly played as a right-back, and occasionally on the left side. He started his professional career with Real Ma ...

for the dying minutes of the last game of the campaign, at home against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. On 14 July 2015, Llorente moved to neighbouring

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan deal. He scored his first goal in the top flight on 3 January 2016, the first in a 2–2 home draw against

, and was an undisputed starter as his team eventually suffered relegation as third from bottom. Llorente was loaned to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

also in the top tier on 8 July 2016.

Real Sociedad

On 26 June 2017, Llorente signed a five-year contract with Real Sociedad. In his league debut, on 10 September, he contributed one goal to a 4–2 away win against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

after replacing

Iñigo Martínez Iñigo Martínez Berridi (; ; born 17 May 1991) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. He spent most of his professional career with Real Sociedad, playing ...

midway through the second half. Four days later, in his first appearance in European competition, he started and scored twice in a 4–0 home defeat of

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

in the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Leeds United

announced the signing of Llorente on a four-year deal on 24 September 2020, for a reported fee of £18 million. He made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut on 5 December, coming on for the injured Robin Koch in the ninth minute of an eventual 3–1 away loss to

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Chelsea. He scored his first league goal on 19 April 2021, heading home a

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

from Jack Harrison in a 1–1 home draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Loan to Roma

On 31 January 2023, Llorente joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy. He made his debut in the competition four days later, replacing

Nicola Zalewski Nicola Zalewski (born 23 January 2002) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a full-back or wing-back for Serie A club Inter Milan. Born and raised in Italy to Polish parents, he opted to play for the Poland national team at interna ...

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

of the 2–0 home victory over

Empoli FC Empoli Football Club is an Italian professional football club based in Empoli, Tuscany. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs not based in a provincial capital city that have participated in Serie A. Emp ...

. Also as a late substitute, he appeared in the Europa League final against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

on 31 May, a 4–1

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Llorente extended his loan deal with the

Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico (; ), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after ...

for the 2023–24 season. He scored his first league goal on 10 March 2024, closing a 2–2 draw at

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in the 95th minute.

Real Betis

On 9 July 2024,

reached an agreement with Leeds United for the transfer of Llorente, who signed a four-year contract.

International career

Llorente was called up to the Spain national team by manager

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

in May 2016, for a friendly against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He made his debut later that month, replacing

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...

in the 3–1 win in Switzerland. On 24 May 2021, Llorente was included in

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

's 24-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

Style of play

A right-footed player who possesses good positioning and is strong in the air, Llorente can operate as a central defender or

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Real Sociedad *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2019–20 Roma *

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Betis *

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

runner-up: 2024–25

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Llorente, Diego 1993 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Rayo Vallecano players Málaga CF players Real Sociedad footballers Real Betis players Premier League players Leeds United F.C. players Serie A players AS Roma players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy