Athletic Bilbao Llorente spent several seasons in the various junior levels of the club, playing alongside
Fernando Amorebieta and moving to their farm team
Basconia in
Tercera División in 2003. He gradually improved, leading to promotion to
Bilbao Athletic – Athletic's reserves – in
Segunda División B. After scoring four goals for the B's in the first half of the season, Llorente was rewarded with a contract extension until June 2008. On 16 January 2005, he made his first-team and
La Liga debut in a 1–1 home draw against
Espanyol. Three days later, in a
Copa del Rey match against
Lanzarote, he scored a
hat-trick in a
6–0 victory. He went on to feature in all but five of the nineteen remaining league games, scoring three goals, and also played in four domestic cup matches and the
UEFA Cup round of 32 tie against
Austria Wien. Before
2005–06, Llorente exchanged his squad number of 32 for the number 9 jersey. He scored on the opening day, a
Basque derby 3–0 win over
Real Sociedad but, throughout the campaign, found goals hard to come by. This could be partly attributed to a series of injuries including a
knee strain,
gastroenteritis and a muscle injury. He ended the season with just four goals, two in the league and as many in the Cup, both against
Hospitalet. On 13 July 2006, Llorente signed a new contract until June 2011, which included a buy-out clause of between
€30 and 50 million. He started
the season as arguably the club's fourth-choice striker, behind
Aritz Aduriz,
Joseba Etxeberria and veteran
Ismael Urzaiz. The team's poor form and lack of goals led to coach
Félix Sarriugarte rotating the players, allowing Llorente to force his way back into the side; he ended the campaign with only two goals in 23 matches, although he did score an important one in the closing minutes of a 1–1 draw at
Valencia. In preparation for
2007–08, Llorente scored six goals in as many pre-season matches, and another against
Numancia in the
Caja Duero Trophy. His form led to him becoming Athletic's first-choice forward, and although he started the campaign poorly, he ended it with a total of 11 league goals as the side finished in mid-table. His tally included four goals in two games against Valencia, both impressive wins, and further strikes against
Barcelona,
Villarreal and
Atlético Madrid. Before
2008–09, Llorente was confident of a successful season. "I know that I am capable of scoring goals and having a good year and I want to start this term in the same form that I ended the last one in" he said. Despite the team's modest start he scored 14 league goals – a career-best – with another four in
the Cup, helping his team reach
the final against Barcelona (a 4–1 loss). In the
2009–10 season, Llorente again reached double figures. He led all scorers in the
Europa League for a long period with eight goals, and added fourteen in the league as Athletic eventually finished in eighth place. in 2012 On 28 August 2010, Llorente scored the first goal of the
2010–11 campaign, in a 1–0 win at
Hércules. His form continued in the next ten league fixtures as he found the net seven times, eventually finishing the season with 18 goals (19 overall) as Athletic qualified for the Europa League. Between January and February 2012, Llorente scored five goals in two away matches in only four days: he started with a hat-trick in a 3–2 win against
Rayo Vallecano, and added two in a 2–1 defeat of
Mirandés in the
Spanish Cup semi-finals. In the next two matches, both at home, he scored three more, one against Espanyol in the league and two against Mirandés. Llorente scored in both legs of the
2011–12 Europa League round of 16 against
Manchester United, as Athletic won both games and went through 5–3 on aggregate. In the next round he scored twice at
Schalke 04 in a 4–2 win, helping the team eventually reach
the final. His seven goals in the tournament also made him the club's
highest scorer in European competition, beating the total of 11 set by
Dani in the 1980s, later surpassed by Aduriz in 2016. In August 2012, Llorente refused to sign a new deal with Athletic Bilbao, fuelling speculation that he might be leaving. and, as a result, his relationship with the club's supporters and president
Josu Urrutia further deteriorated. On 3 January 2013, Athletic confirmed that Llorente would be holding talks with
Juventus. On 21 January, the latter's sporting director,
Giuseppe Marotta, stated that he was "very optimistic" that the player would join on 1 July, with Urrutia believed to be unwilling to allow him to leave in the January
transfer window. Three days later, the club announced he would sign a four-year deal on 1 July when his contract expired; Juventus also paid his agent €3.038 million. Llorente scored just five goals in 36 competitive matches in
his final year, playing mainly as a back-up for Aduriz.
Juventus match against
Real Madrid in 2013 Llorente officially became a Juventus player on 1 July 2013 after passing a medical at the club. He was given the number 14 shirt, and scored his first goal in
Serie A on 22 September when he started in a 2–1 home win against
Hellas Verona. Llorente found the net in his second and third ever appearances in the
UEFA Champions League, both times against
Real Madrid in the
2013–14 group stage (a 2–1 away loss, and a 2–2 home draw). In November 2013 he spoke critically about his relationship with former manager Bielsa in an exclusive interview with
La Gazzetta dello Sport. On 1 December he scored in injury time, the only goal of the match at home against
Udinese. Llorente's first two goals of 2014 came on 12 January, from a header and from close range as Juventus defeated
Cagliari 4–1 away to extend their winning league run to 11 matches. On 7 April, he scored both of his team's goals in a 2–0 home win over
Livorno, guaranteeing at least second place and Champions League qualification. On the final day of
the season, again against Cagliari, he contributed one goal as Juve won 3–0 and clinched the championship, finishing with a record 102 points. On 6 June 2015, Llorente came off the bench and played five minutes in
the final of the
Champions League, lost 3–1 to Barcelona at Berlin's
Olympiastadion.
Sevilla On 27 August 2015,
free agent Llorente signed a three-year contract with
Sevilla with a buyout clause of €20 million. He made his league debut three days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home defeat against Atlético Madrid. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to
Celta, also at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, on 20 September. On 8 November 2015, after replacing newly signed
Ciro Immobile for the final 20 minutes of the league game against Real Madrid, Llorente headed home after only four minutes in an eventual 3–2 win. Exactly one month later, also at home, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over his former club Juventus in the final match of the
Champions League group stage, which meant Sevilla overtook
Borussia Mönchengladbach into third spot and
qualification for the Europa League knockout phase. The club went on to win the competition for the third time in a row, with the player being an unused substitute in
the final. He came off the bench during extra time in the
Copa del Rey Final four days later, which they lost to Barcelona.
Swansea City On 4 August 2016, it was announced that Llorente had signed a two-year deal with
Swansea City. He made his
Premier League debut nine days later, playing the full ninety minutes in a 1–0 away win against
Burnley. On 26 November 2016, Llorente scored two injury-time goals to help the hosts defeat
Crystal Palace 5–4. He also scored twice two matches later, again at the
Liberty Stadium, against
Sunderland (3–0). He finished
his first season with 15 goals, as the team avoided relegation. A fractured
arm sustained while cycling during his summer holiday caused Llorente to miss the opening weeks of the
2017–18 campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur On 31 August 2017, Llorente joined
Tottenham Hotspur on a two-year deal for a reported fee of £12.1 million. He made his debut for the club on 13 September, replacing
Harry Kane for the last minutes of a 3–1 home win over
Borussia Dortmund in the
Champions League group stage. He made his first start in the
EFL Cup tie against
Barnsley on 20 September, then played in the
Champions League group stage match at Real Madrid which ended 1–1. Llorente scored his first goal for Spurs on 6 December 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in the 3–0 Champions League win over
APOEL after his team had already progressed to the knockout stage as group winners. He made his first league start the following January, scoring in a 2–0 away win against his former club Swansea. Llorente scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 victory over
Rochdale in the
fifth round of the
FA Cup, on 28 February 2018. On 4 January 2019, in
the third round of the next season's competition, he repeated the feat in a 7–0 away rout of
Tranmere Rovers, and helped the club record its biggest ever away win. His first league start of
the season took place 16 days later due to an injury to Kane, when Llorente scored an
own goal in a 2–1 away win at
Fulham. In the following league game, he scored a late winner to help defeat
Watford 2–1 at
Wembley Stadium. On 13 February 2019, Llorente scored the last goal in a
3–0 Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, only three minutes after coming off the bench; it was his first career goal in the knockout stages of that competition, and 11th in total. On 17 April, in the same competition, he scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the quarter-final fixture against
Manchester City (the tie ended 4–4, Tottenham progressing on the
away goals rule). In the second leg of the semi-final away to
Ajax, he replaced
Victor Wanyama at half time and played a crucial role in helping his team come back from a three-goal aggregate deficit to make it 3–3 and progress again in the same fashion. In
the final played in
Madrid, he was introduced off the bench with eight minutes remaining and the side already behind, was unable to affect the outcome as
Liverpool won 2–0 to take the trophy. Despite his success in the Champions League, Llorente's contract expired on 30 June 2019 with no official statement from Tottenham on his position. His name was included in their 'released players' list submitted to the Premier League on 7 June 2019 (before he was actually released), and his profile was later removed from the first team squad list on the website for the upcoming season.
Napoli On 2 September 2019, Llorente joined
Napoli on a
free transfer, returning to Italy four years after leaving Juventus. He made his league debut against
Sampdoria on 14 September, where he provided an
assist for
Dries Mertens within minutes of coming on as a substitute to help the team win 2–0. His first goal for the club came three days later in the
Champions League group stage game against Liverpool, scoring in injury time to seal a 2–0 victory. Llorente continued to be used in the 'super-sub' role, as was previously the case at Tottenham; although he was rarely started, he was often brought on in the second half of matches, to cause problems for tiring opposition defences with his physical presence.
Udinese On 27 January 2021, Llorente signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Udinese. In August, however, he was released.
Eibar On 27 October 2021, after three months without a club, the 36-year-old Llorente joined
Eibar on a one-year deal. Once it expired, he left. Llorente officially announced his retirement from professional football on 16 February 2023. ==International career==