Marcelo Bielsa has grown to prefer Llorente and Struijk as his centre-back pairing in recent months and Cooper was on the bench on Saturday afternoon as Leeds thrashed Burnley 4-0 in the Premier League.
Whelan is clear that he feels Llorente and Struijk are the best centre-back duo for Leeds and is a fan of the aggressive nature they bring to the team, with the pair eager to win their battles on the pitch.
And Whelan believes that Cooper now has real competition and will need to work hard if he is to dislodge either Llorente or Struijk from the team.
“You’ve got two players there at centre-half and Cooper on the bench; that to me is the partnership for next season”, Whelan said after the Burnley win on BBC Radio Leeds.
“They compliment each other so well.
“They are very aggressive, they are very dominant, they get very, very close to the centre forwards, they love winning their battles.
“And that is no disrespect to Liam Cooper; he is a fantastic servant to the club and club captain, but he’s got some real competition on his hands here, if he’s going to raise that bar and take one of these two places because the challenge has been put down”, he added.
Cooper has made 23 appearances in the Premier League for Leeds so far this season, picking up just three yellow cards in the process, and he will be aiming to feature again before the curtain is drawn on the campaign.
