It’s been a relatively quiet January window in Serie A but Roma boss Jose Mourinho pulled off a deadline day coup by bringing centre-back Diego Llorente to his club, on loan from Leeds United.
The signing was under wraps until well into the last day of dealing, but the 29-year-old Spain international put pen to paper in good time to join Roma’s top-four push. I Giallorossi are currently sixth in the league table but, in a congested race for European football, only a point behind capital city rivals Lazio who sit third. And with a match at home to Empoli on Saturday, at SBOTOP odds of 1.47 to win, Mourinho’s men will likely find themselves in the top four by the end of the weekend.
Roma play Cremonese in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday when Llorente will be introduced to the fans at the Stadio Olimpico and he will be ready to join the squad for the return of league football. The deal includes an option to buy at £18m, which will allow the Premier League club to recoup the fee they laid out for him when he signed from Real Sociedad back in 2020.
The move came as a surprise to Leeds fans after Llorente signed a three-and-a-half year contract extension in December, having made 59 appearances for the club. But he has struggled to hold down a place at Elland Road this season, making just seven starts in the Premier League and 13 in all competitions. Leeds are going well in the FA Cup and have work to do to guarantee another campaign in the top flight, but Llorente has fallen down in the defensive pecking order, behind the fit-again Liam Cooper, Robin Koch and now Max Wober. And Leeds boss Jesse Marsch has already moved to replace Llorente with the signing of highly regarded youngster Diogo Monteiro from Swiss club Servette.
The latest Serie A 2023 betting odds rate Roma as joint fourth in the title race with Atalanta, and Mourinho hopes the signing of Llorente might just give him the edge. He may well form a strong partnership with another former Premier League star, Chris Smalling, in the heart of Roma’s defence, and that would be perfect outcome for tactical mastermind Mourinho.
One player heading the other way is Serbia midfielder Sasa Lukic, who has headed to Premier League high-flyers Fulham from Torino. The 26-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal and the West London club has paid a reported £8.8m fee for his services. Lukic is a flexible player who can operate in front of the back four or in an advanced role and he will link up with Serbian team-mate Aleksandar Mitrovic, who leads the attack brilliantly for the Cottagers.
The other eye-catching moves in the Italian January window saw centre-back William Troost Ekong move from Watford to Salernitana and striker Josip Brekalo who was transferred from Wolfsburg to Fiorentina. La Viola will be delighted to have signed Brekalo; the 24-year-old winger impressed last year on loan with Torino and is already established as a Croatian international and this could turn out to be a very shrewd signing for his new club.
Can it get any worse for Juventus?
When the Old Lady met Atalanta a week ago she had already been heavily sanctioned by the Italian authorities and even an entertaining comeback in a 3-3 draw did little to cheer up the fans at the Juventus Stadium. The league’s prosecutors have come down on the club like a ton of bricks following investigations into irregular transfer dealings in recent seasons.
A 2-0 defeat at home to Monza on Sunday deepened the sense of gloom at the club, which is accustomed to winning every game and most of the Italian silverware over the past decade.
But I Bianconeri has been well and truly slapped down.
The authorities’ prosecutor initially recommended a nine-point deduction but 15 points was the outcome which has pretty much killed Juve’s season. They now sit in 13th place with the top four in the distance while, off the pitch, 11 board members and club executives have been sanctioned, including playing legend Pavel Nedved, who has received an eight-month ban from the game.
Now 15 points behind the top four places, Max Allegri’s team needs a spectacular set of Serie A 2023 results to get back in the race with just 18 games to make up the distance.
Surely it can’t get any worse for the Old Lady.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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