The transfer window is open and Manchester United are already splashing the cash. They have looked at their squad and rightly decided to invest in a centre back which is an area that they have been spread fairly thin in during their recent season. The man their scouts landed on is 18-year-old Leny Yoro from the French side Lille. At a price of €62 million, he will be expected to slot straight into the starting 11 and will come attached with many expectations regarding quality. The price tag alone has already posed a lot of questions about whether he is ready for the Premier League. He is still yet to make an appearance at international level and with only 1 full professional season under his belt, you have got to wonder how he will handle the pressure of Europe’s top league.
He has had a good season with Lille in the French league securing a 4th place finish which included a short campaign in the Conference League. In his 30 starts, he helped his team to 13 clean sheets and only conceded 32 goals. He even popped up with 2 goals which from defence isn’t a bad return. His important statistics however come defensively where he mustered 1.3 tackles per game, 1.1 interceptions per game, 3.3 clearances per game and even got 4.2 ball recoveries per game. He is a very composed player who doesn’t typically
dive into tackles as his tackling is seen by many as a weakness in his play. Where his strength lies is his passing, which for his age is extremely versatile and helps drive his team further up the pitch. He averages 2.5 long balls per game alongside a huge 12.5 passes in the opposition half of the pitch which shows just how creative his passes can be. His heatmap paints a good picture of his likeliness to roam from his position and get involved with the midfield. This gives him the chance to utilise his passing and cause the opposition a different kind of problem.
Across the media and the Man United fanbase, Leny Yoro has been hailed as ‘the next
Saliba’ with many not even trying to not over-hype the rising star. As good of a passer as Yoro is, in comparison to Saliba his passing statistics look average with the Arsenal man
completing more forward passes per game, more passes in the opposition’s half of the pitch and more key passes per game, even if it is by very little. Where Yoro is better however is he
plays more accurate long balls per game and plays more accurate chipped passes per game. Using the comparison data, we can see that Yoro wins more ground duels per game in addition to having better aerial duel success. His statistics tell us that Yoro is better physically and is more successful when putting his body about. However, looking past the numbers we can put Yoro’s dominance down to the teams around both these players. Saliba is a key cog in Arsenal's defence which was the best in the Premier League whereas Yoro was part of a Lille defence which was less successful. In addition, simply by using the eye test, we can appreciate just how good Saliba is and the standards that Yoro will be required to reach to even get close to where Saliba is.
A more accurate comparison is against his future Manchester United teammates Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof. These 3 players are likely the players he will be replacing and be expecting to overcome. He will be required to slot straight into position and looking at the comparison radar chart, he has a lot of work to put in. Although the statistics are taken from this recent season where the 3 Manchester United players were put under a lot more work than Yoro was, we can still see that Yoro will be required to improve his defensive game. From the radar chart, Maguire is the most dominant in a lot of areas,
especially with aerials duels won. I have always felt that Maguire is criminally underrated due to the stigma around him on social media but his numbers back up just how effective he is. He would slot perfectly into a majority of backlines with his physicality and the amount of ground he covers. His work rate is top class and it will be very difficult for Yoro to replicate this. With the rest of the statistics available, we can see that Yoro matches a lot of the defenders and with his age, he will only keep on getting better. His ceiling is so high and if he can develop successfully over the next season it could be a hell of a pull for the Red Devils.
At this time of writing this, it has been announced that Yoro injured himself during a pre-season game which is a typically unlucky start for the new Man United centre-back.
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