Sport

Manchester United must not let Leny Yoro’s talent go to waste

If Leny Yoro wasn’t aware of the chaos he has entered by joining Manchester United, he surely is now. The young Frenchman made his Premier League debut in Saturday’s home defeat to Nottingham Forest. Having been signed by Erik ten Hag, Yoro is now playing under Ruben Amorim. The sporting director who completed his transfer in the summer isn’t even at Old Trafford any longer.

Talent-wise, there is no doubting Yoro’s potential. The 19-year-old caught the eye at Lille last season and had been strongly linked with many of Europe’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid before making the €62m switch to Manchester United in the summer transfer window. Many believe Yoro is the real deal.

This is why United must learn from mistakes they have made in the past with the development of young players. Old Trafford hasn’t been a good environment for young players in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson age with countless talented prospects losing their way among the chaos that has engulfed the club for over a decade.

Rasmus Hojlund, for example, hasn’t grown in the way that was envisaged when the Danish striker joined Manchester United from Atalanta last year. Injuries certainly haven’t helped Hojlund, but many believe Amorim still needs a new centre forward to push his new team up the Premier League table. Hojlund hasn’t justified his £64m transfer fee.

Jadon Sancho was another young player Manchester United spent big on after breaking through at Borussia Dortmund. At Old Trafford, though, the winger never felt comfortable and has shown more promise in a few months for Chelsea this season than he ever did over three seasons at United.

Donny van de Beek was signed from Ajax after earning himself a reputation as one of the best young midfielders in Europe. He too struggled for any sort of consistent form as a Manchester United player and was loaned out to Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt on loan before joining Girona permanently this summer.

Time and time again, Manchester United have wasted talent within their squad, but Yoro is the best young player they have possessed for a long time. Amorim must be careful not to run the young defender into the ground so early in his career. This is a delicate time for Yoro’s development at Old Trafford.

“He is a special talent,” said Amorim ahead of Yoro’s first league start against Forest. “He is really fast, a modern defender. He will be good when we want to press high and you leave a lot of strikers in this league one-against-one, he can manage that. He is very good with the ball so I am very excited. We have to be careful, we have to manage the load and minutes in the beginning but I am really excited to see Leny Yoro playing.”

Amorim is still figuring out what he has within the squad he inherited from ten Hag. The Portuguese coach has chopped and changed over the course of his first few matches as Manchester United manager with the Old Trafford outfit winning just one of their last four Premier League matches.

In Yoro, though, Amorim has a young player to harness into an elite level performer. Technically and physically, the teenager has shown he is good enough for the top level of the game and showed glimpses of that quality even as Manchester United fell to a disappointing home defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Old Trafford could be a good place for Yoro to reach the next stage in his development as United change under the leadership of INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Frenchman will have responsibility placed on him. He will be expected to grow quickly. Other players, however, have been crushed by the pressure that always exists at Manchester United.