'Good dynamic' with Son, says Llorente

Fernando Llorente has hailed Heung-Min Son as a “key player” following the South Korean star’s return from international duty.

The 26-year-old missed three games in January while away at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but has hit the ground running since his return.

Scoring the equaliser against Watford in his first game back on 30 January, a goal followed moments later by Fernando’s winner as we triumphed 2-1, he was at it again last weekend with a late strike to secure a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at Wembley.

Towering front man Fernando, who stepped off the bench to set up the winner against the Magpies, said: “Sonny is another key player for the team.

“We need him a lot and I hope now he can get back to showing many of his best performances and help us achieve what we want.

“It’s a good dynamic between me and him – I think we complement each other very well. He has a lot of quality and we have to try to do our best with him now and try to score a lot of goals to help the team.”

Prior to the Newcastle game, Fernando had enjoyed his longest run of starts since his 2017 move from Swansea and the striker added: “My mindset now is to be very focused, to give my best. I was waiting for an opportunity to come into the team and play more frequently and now I feel like it’s the moment to show all my strength. Hopefully I can score a lot of goals and help the team because, like I’ve said before, I think it will be a very important moment to do that.”