Ruben Amorim has an elegant Man Utd star who is becoming their next Rio Ferdinand - it's not Matthijs de Ligt
Man United signed a potential gem in Leny Yoro who is now starting to look like the real deal under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester United has always been a club that would keep an eye on the best local talent as well as promising youngsters who impress overseas.
When United paid Lyon £52.2m with the potential to pay another £7m for Leny Yoro, more than a few eyebrows were raised. The France youth international was only 18 at the time which would be young for most players, never mind a centre-half. Now a pivotal figure in Ruben Amorim’s starting XI, the 6ft 3inch tall stopper looked overawed at times last season in what was a dysfunctional squad.
Leny Yoro is starting to look the part for Man United
Yoro has found his feet this season though playing 11 times in the much-discussed back three, missing just one game in the EFL Cup, where being comfortable on the ball and being able to cover large spaces are key attributes. It is easy to see why he has earned comparisons with Rio Ferdinand. He has a long way to go before he can be truly compared to a player who won multiple league titles and was widely regarded as one of the best defenders in world football.
There is an elegance to how Ferdinand played the game and Yoro shares this with one of his biggest strengths being how hard opposition forwards found it to get past him. It is an area of the game that Yoro has improved and a conversation between the two centre-halves in the summer revealed the lengths that the Saint-Maurice born prospect went to to make the grade at Old Trafford.
“You can’t change the past. This is the type of game that helps you grow up from experience. Because you can do good tackles, experience penalties, but you need bad things to improve your games and get experience. I think this game helped me a lot,” he said.
“I have watched the one-v-ones like, maybe, 10 times. Because I just wanted to know why I did wrong. I think this game helped me a lot to improve.”
Yoro shows the mentality needed to be United leader
Yoro might not be a leader yet, but he has the mentality and awareness needed to become one eventually. Speaking to The Guardian recently, he identified what it takes to bring success to Old Trafford and what type of player is needed: “The character is really important, for the atmosphere of the team. I think the club is doing well with this, to take only people who can bring good things to the team. We don’t want any bad things in the team.
“It’s really important for us to be focused on the team, don’t do any drama. Just speak with everyone, have a good relationship. This is the best, I think, for the team. We cannot build something with bad energy or bad atmosphere or bad characters. The thing that’s good is that there is no group of friends in the team. This is just one group of friends. This is the best for the team to not have any drama.”
United don’t always have the most talented squads, as perfectly illustrated by Sir Alex Ferguson’s last title win, but what his players had was a togetherness and character. Exactly what Yoro is demanding now.