The ‘very mature’ 18-year-old represents a welcome break from the Red Devils’ previous transfer dealings and can be a step towards great things
Manchester United fans might have been wary when they learned that Rio Ferdinand helped convince Leny Yoro sign for the club. Ferdinand was one of several United figures who had urged Cristiano Ronaldo to make his ill-fated return to Old Trafford, reportedly calling the striker at 3am to warn him against moving to Manchester City and twisting his arm in favour of signing for United.
Ronaldo might have scored 27 goals for United and given supporters a few sugar hits, but his second coming proved to be a huge mistake for the player and the club. After Ronaldo’s tell-all interview with Piers Morgan, even Ferdinand admitted: “That love affair with Manchester United is finished. The book has been closed, he’s snookered the club and put them into a position where there’s no way back.”
The Ronaldo signing represented the worst of United’s transfer policy at the time, hoping the glory days would return by using the same methods as in the past. The club paid £12 million ($15m) and £52m ($68m) in wages for a nostalgia trip. They gained a player long past his sell-by date who had one good season on an individual level, but overall held the team back, derailing the project Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been building and humiliating the club by leaving just 14 months later.
There are high hopes, however, for Ferdinand’s next project. Yoro, like Ferdinand was when he signed for United from Leeds in 2002, has the potential to be a transformational signing, one who could lead their defence for the next decade and take them back to the very top.
Break from the past
United signing 18-year-old Yoro represents a huge break from their old transfer policy, while offering real optimism about the direction the club are moving in under new minority owners INEOS and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
His predecessor, John Murtough, tended to value experience over potential, paying huge sums for players who had already proven themselves, in some cases several years previously. Ronaldo was just one example, while Raphael Varane, who signed in the same summer as the Portuguese, had won multiple trophies with Real Madrid and the World Cup with France, but by the time he had arrived at Old Trafford, for £50m ($64m), plus a reported £17m ($22m) a year, he was on the decline and increasingly vulnerable to injuries.
Varane was only able to start 58 out of the 114 Premier League games United played in his three-year spell, suffering a total of 16 periods of absence. The Red Devils thus decided against triggering his one-year extension in his contract and he left for nothing.
Casemiro, though, is probably the worst example of Murtough’s transfer policy, costing the club up to £70m ($90m) in transfer fees plus £18m ($23m) annually in wages, on a four-year deal. That’s £142m ($183m) for a player Jamie Carragher begged to leave last season to prevent his reputation deteriorating yet further. The Brazilian’s summer break does not appear to have done him much good and he has performed badly in both of United’s pre-season friendlies so far.
Signing big names long past their best who have no sell-on value does, however, pre-date Murtough. Take Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Radamel Falcao and many others as examples
Beating Madrid at their own game
Signing Yoro, who was targeted by Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Real Madrid before opting for a move to Manchester, signals an end to United being seen, in the words of one agent, “the garbage can for all clubs who don’t want their players”.
While Casemiro, Varane, Ronaldo and Cavani had been to the top and were on their way down, Yoro is on his way up. And a clear sign is that Real Madrid were United’s biggest rivals to sign him.
Through the work of chief scout Juni Calafat, Madrid have become the kings of signing emerging young players in the last decade, snapping up Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Federico Valverde, Endrick and Eduardo Camavinga when they were teenagers.
Madrid were super-keen to bring Yoro in as their fourth centre-back after parting with Nacho and Rafa Marin this summer, and spoke to Yoro’s agent Jorge Mendes. According to The Athletic, “all signs pointed to Santiago Bernabeu”. But Los Blancos were not willing to bid more than €30m (£25m/$30m) as Yoro was about to enter the final year of his contract at Lille.
Madrid were pinning their hopes on Yoro being so determined to move to the Spanish capital that he would be willing to wait for them, but United made an offer that Lille couldn’t refuse, and it was soon accepted by the player, who became the club’s second signing of the summer after Joshua Zirkzee.
‘Very mature’
Yoro’s £52m ($68m) transfer fee has raised eyebrows in some quarters given he is just 18, not yet a full international and has only had one full season in one of Europe’s top leagues under his belt. But a big offer was needed to tempt him to join United over Madrid and compensate for a lack of Champions League football at Old Trafford.
And it could well pay off. Yoro’s former coach at Lille, Paulo Fonseca, predicted that he would become “one of the best central defenders in France and probably in Europe”. He also praised his technical ability and his maturity, which he said “was not normal for an 18-year-old”.
United fans were given an early glimpse into his capabilities in his debut against Rangers on Saturday. Yoro was full of confidence in his 45 minutes on the pitch, showing off his passing range as well as his recovery speed and strength. Erik ten Hag was impressed, praising the defender for a “very mature performance”.
He added: “That’s what we saw when we scouted him. It’s great to have him. He’s a very young, talented centre‑back and there’s a lot to come. He’s here, we think he can play but there’s so many games that he’ll be in a group of four or five defenders.”
More defenders to come
Yoro is one of six centre-backs in the United squad at the moment, although Will Fish, who also impressed against Rangers and spent the last two seasons on loan at Hibernian, is unlikely to still be at Old Trafford by the end of the summer. And more changes could be on the horizon before the transfer window closes.
United remain interested in both Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite even after capturing Yoro. Budget limitations are a big obstacle to both pursuits, although De Ligt appears to be more accessible, with Bayern Munich reportedly demanding just £42m ($54m) for the Dutchman compared to the £70m ($90m) Everton are holding out for to let go of Branthwaite. A deal for either player is likely to depend on United being able to sell Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire.
Against Rangers, Yoro partnered Jonny Evans, who is almost double his age at 36. Evans made a surprise return to the club last summer and exceeded expectations, but he should be used more sparingly next season as the club learn how to better manage players’ fitness levels.
Lisandro Martinez, who was sidelined for most of last season through injury, will be the first-choice centre back. He showed United what they had been missing with an exceptional performance in the FA Cup final win over Manchester City and was a crucial part of Argentina’s Copa America triumph.
Advantage over Maguire
Yoro has every chance of slotting in right next to Martinez, despite his youth and lack of experience. His main competition, for now, is Maguire and then Lindelof, who both have doubts hanging over their United futures as they enter the final year of their contracts.
United triggered the one-year extension in Lindelof’s deal, partly with a view to selling him, and could do the same with Maguire to keep him until 2026. Maguire was on the verge of leaving United last summer when the club accepted a bid from West Ham, but he refused to go unless his contract was paid up.
He ended up staging an impressive revival and for a period usurped Varane in the line up. His progress, unfortunately, was stalled by injuries as he missed six weeks between December and February plus the final month of the season and subsequently the European Championship.
Yoro, by contrast, proved remarkably robust for Lille, starting 32 of their 34 Ligue 1 games last season and could establish himself as Martinez’s main partner by virtue of staying fitter than his team-mates.
Don’t burn him out
Ten Hag, however, must ensure he does not put too much responsibility on Yoro’s young shoulders or run him into the ground. The Dutchman is infamously reluctant to rotate players even in the so-called lesser competitions, and United will this season be competing in the expanded Europa League.
Ten Hag’s thirst for winning has led to him earning back-to-back trophies with the club after a seven-year silverware drought, but also led to an over-burdened squad which suffered the most injuries of any side in the league last season.
Despite his potential, Yoro cannot be viewed as a one-man solution to United’s defensive problems, which led to their worst-ever season in the Premier League. The Red Devils shipped 58 goals in the league, conceded the second-highest amount of shots and had the second-worst defensive record in the Champions League.
Source goal.com
