Marcos Llorente


Marcos Llorente Moreno is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or second striker for Atlético Madrid.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in Madrid, Llorente joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 2008, aged 13. In July 2014, after impressing with the Juvenil squad, he was promoted straight to the reserves by manager Zinedine Zidane.
On 24 August 2014, Llorente made his senior debut, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Atlético Madrid B for the Segunda División B championship. He appeared in 25 matches during the campaign, totalling 1,637 minutes of action.
Llorente spent the 2015 pre-season with the first team, appearing in friendlies against Manchester City, Inter Milan and Vålerenga Fotball. He made his professional – and La Liga – debut on 17 October of that year, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mateo Kovačić in a 3–0 home win over Levante UD.
On 10 August 2016, Llorente was loaned to La Liga club Deportivo Alavés for one season. On 10 September of that year, he featured the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win at FC Barcelona.
On 23 September 2017, Llorente's contract was extended until 2021. He made one appearance during the campaign's UEFA Champions League, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall title in the tournament.
Llorente scored his first competitive goal for the team on 22 December 2018, netting the second in the 4–1 victory over Al Ain FC for the final of the FIFA Club World Cup and being named player of the match in the process.

Atlético Madrid

On 20 June 2019, Llorente was signed by local rivals Atlético Madrid on a five-year contract for a reported fee of £35 million. He made his official debut on 18 August, playing 25 minutes in the 1–0 home win against Getafe CF. His first goal came the following 14 February, when he put his team ahead in a 2–2 draw at Valencia CF.
On 11 March 2020, during extra time of the Champions League round-of-16 tie away to Liverpool, Llorente scored twice to tie the match 2–2 after replacing Diego Costa early into the second half, in an eventual 3–2 win and qualification. On 17 June, he was named man of the match in the league game at CA Osasuna after coming from the bench in the 63rd minute, scoring a solo goal and later assisting twice in the 5–0 rout.

International career

Llorente earned his first cap for the Spain under-21 side on 10 October 2016, featuring the entire 5–0 home defeat of Estonia for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, in Pontevedra.

Style of play

Originally a defensive midfielder or a playmaker in front of a back four, Llorente is also capable of playing in more advanced positions such as a central or a box-to-box midfielder. At Atlético Madrid, under coach Diego Simeone, he was also fielded out of his regular position, first on the right side of the midfield in a 4–4–2 formation and later as a supporting forward in the same system.
At the conclusion of the 2019–20 season, Llorente was the sixth fastest player in the competition, with his top running speed clocked at 35.09 km/h. Apart from his physical attributes, such as pace, height, body fitness and stamina, his strengths also included excellent ball winning skills, visionary passing over both short and long distances, dribbling, first touch and shooting from just outside the penalty area, which led him to score several goals.
For his training attitude and patience, Llorente was also praised by Simeone and Jorge Valdano.

Personal life

A boyhood supporter of Real Madrid, Llorente's family has ties to both football and the club. His father Francisco and great uncle Francisco Gento were wingers, while his maternal grandfather Ramón Grosso was a forward.

Club statistics

Honours

Real Madrid
Spain U21