Leeds defender Rasmus Kristensen joins Roma on a season-long loan

Leeds defender Rasmus Kristensen has joined Roma on a season-long loan. 

The right-back joined the Whites from Red Bull Salzburg last summer, but despite scoring three times during the last couple of months of the recent Premier League campaign, he was unable to keep them in the top flight. 

In making the move, Kristensen joins Leeds team-mate Diego Llorente, who spent time with the Giallorossi last term and has rejoined the capital club on loan ahead of the upcoming campaign. 

Kristensen said after the deal was announced: "I'm proud to be part of this great club - you can feel the history as soon as you walk in here.

"Roma's European success in recent years [including a Europa Conference League title last year] made me want to play for this club even more. I can't wait to have my everyday life here."

Tiago Pinto, Roma's general manager for football, said: "Rasmus is a player we've been tracking for a long time, even before he joined Leeds, and now we finally had the chance to bring him to Rome.

"He has accumulated a great deal of experience despite his young age. We're convinced that he will boost our defensive options and make our squad even stronger."

Kristensen came through the ranks at Midtjylland, making his senior debut in 2016 before joining Ajax two years later, and then only spending 18 months there before switching to Salzburg. He has 15 Denmark caps. 

Roma suffered a penalty-shootout loss to Sevilla in the final of last season's Europa League, but quickly regained their composure to beat Spezia 2-1 on the last day of the Serie A campaign, regaining their place in Europe's second-tier competition. 

Jose Mourinho's men kick off their competitive season at home to Salernitana on Sunday 20 August in a match you can watch exclusively live on TNT Sports - the new name for BT Sport from Tuesday 18 July.