Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Real Madrid's Marcos Llorente upset at missing chance to face parent club

Alaves midfielder Marcos Llorente has admitted it is "annoying" not to be able to face parent club Real Madrid this Saturday due to a clause in his loan deal.

Llorente, 21, came through Madrid's Castilla youth team, and made his first team debut for Los Blancos under then coach Rafa Benitez last season.

Current boss Zinedine Zidane decided to send the Spain under-21 international on loan for the 2016-17 campaign, and he is currently impressing for a newly promoted Alaves side that won 2-1 at Barcelona and currently sits in 13th place in the table.

Ahead of Madrid's visit to Mendizorrotza on Saturday afternoon, Llorente told AS he was disappointed Real had chosen to include a clause that prevents players they have loaned out from appearing against them.

"It's really annoying," Llorente said. "When I signed the loan deal I knew that I was not going to play these games, but preferred not to think about it. I understand I am a Madrid player and the decision they took."

Llorente said he had initially hoped to stay and fight for a first team place at Madrid this season, but during the preseason trip to the U.S. it was decided it made more sense to get regular football elsewhere for a year.

"During preseason, my intention was to stay," he said. "But I spoke with [Madrid director] Jose Angel Sanchez, with Zidane and my family, and decision was taken to go on loan. The idea was to play at least 30 games, and I am playing a good bit here. Next summer we will see what happens."

With Madrid's only real holding midfielder Casemiro currently injured, Zidane has recently admitted that Llorente would have played more had he stuck around the Bernabeu, but the player himself says just filling the gaps when someone is unavailable is not enough for him.

"When I return to Madrid I want to have a chance to win a place in the team, to be a starter," he said. "I don't want to be on the bench, in case somebody gets injured or something happens. I want to fight for a place. I don't want to be the new Casemiro, or the new [Toni] Kroos, I want to be Marcos Llorente."

Llorente comes from a famous Bernabeu family, with his father Paco Llorente and grandfather Ramon Moreno Grosso playing for Madrid, while his great-uncle is legendary winger and six-time European Cup winner Paco Gento. But he says they all would want Alaves to shock Zidane's side on Saturday.

"Many members of my family have made history at Madrid," he said. "Now I will try and follow their footsteps. [But] in this game my family and my friends are all supporting Alaves. I really want to achieve big things here, and if that begins with beating Madrid, well perfect."

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