Diego Llorente has received praise from the manager of the Spanish national team, Luis Enrique. The Leeds United centre back was called up for his country's Nations League fixtures at the end of the season, after Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte dropped out of the squad due to injury.
Llorente has played 90 minutes in two of the three fixtures so far, prompting his manager to call him 'one of the best'.
Enrique was speaking following the victory over Switzerland and he was asked about the choice of Llorente, after the defender endured a difficult season in his second year at the club. The former Barcelona manager said: "I know a lot about football and he comes [to the Spain squad] because he is amongst the best. He has played with continuity. Him as much as Pau [Torres]."
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Llorente has earned 10 caps for Spain but primarily appears to be one of the backup choices for the national team. He was included in the squad for Euro 2020 but did not feature in any of the fixtures.
Meanwhile, his second season for Leeds saw him make significantly more appearances than his first. In 2020/21 he played only 15 games, as the first half of the season was marred by injuries, keeping him from making consecutive appearances until February. However, when he did play, Leeds finished the season with a strong defensive record.
In 2021/22, he was fit to play 28 times in the league but he found form much more difficult to find and Leeds had the second-worst defensive record in the league, behind only Norwich. However, he did score three goals, all coming from corners.
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