Leny Yoro transfer hints at Manchester United’s new market strategy

Leny Yoro’s first and last appearances for Lille were against Nice. His debut, aged 16, came in front of Sir Dave Brailsford.

Brailsford was at the Allianz Riviera Stadium in his role as sporting director of Ineos-owned Nice. He was flanked by Josh Thompson, the group’s sporting project manager already dubbed Brailsford’s ‘bag man’ by some at Manchester United.

Where Brailsford goes, Thompson usually follows. He wandered around the mixed area with Brailsford and Sir Jim Ratcliffe after the FA Cup final and appeared to advise Ratcliffe on an exit strategy that avoided the press.

Thompson is closely assisting Brailsford and fellow United football board member Jean-Claude Blanc to raise performance levels. Yoro has gone up a few levels since Brailsford first clapped him.

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The teenager came on in the 78th minute with Lille 2-1 up in May 2022 and they won 3-1. Three of Yoro’s 68 appearances for Lille came against Nice.

United sporting director Dan Ashworth backed the development of a signing from Lille to Brighton six years ago. He joined two months before Ashworth’s appointment, but under the Ashworth-Graham Potter axis he became one of the most dominant midfielders in the Premier League. Yves Bissouma restored the backbone of Tottenham last season.

Ratcliffe said earlier this year United will take a grassroots approach to the transfer market and Yoro is very green. Ratcliffe lamented the downsides of having multiple clubs in the transfer market last month as Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo was eyed by United but is now on his way to West Ham.

Yoro, 24 years Todibo’s junior and without any international recognition, is a long-term addition to a club in need of significant short-term gains. Yoro’s final charge could outshine Lisandro Martinez, but United lack longevity at centre-half, where three of the defenders are over 30.

Last season was in all likelihood Victor Lindelof’s last with United and next season could be the curtain call for Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans. Yoro will be given a season to adjust, as unforgiving as his position is.

Eight league games in an untried Europa League format should help him find his feet. Maguire and Evans are sound professionals who have been around the block and will provide expert guidance. It’s a shame for Yoro that Raphael Varane, another teenage centre-half at northern French club United, coveted 13 years ago, has come to the end of the road at the club.

Following Zinedine Zidane’s intervention in 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson turned to 19-year-old Phil Jones. Jones is proof that a raw defender can start without fear at United, even prompting a barely credulous comparison to Sir Bobby Charlton’s Duncan Edwards.

It helped that Jones was a Blackburn native and used to the Premier League. He was encouraged by United’s raucous approach in 2011-12, when they plundered 21 goals in their first six games, which put him largely out of danger.

Yoro’s age won’t protect him from scrutiny, but he only needs to look to his left at Martinez, written off by Jamie Carragher (and others) after two appearances. Despite an injury-riddled year, Martinez was the most successful signing of the Erik ten Hag era.

United’s newly signed centre-backs used to endure baptisms of fire until Eric Bailly, usually the fire starter rather than the fireman, took some of the heat off. He was man of the match in his first two appearances in 2016, Maguire had a consistent start three years later and so did Varane in 2021. Lindelof was shaky in his first season and Martinez’s mare lasted two games before help neutralize a daunting Liverpool attack. at Old Trafford.

Bailly was 22 when he was unveiled, Lindelof 23, Maguire 26 and Varane 28. Lindelof was at fault for both goals in newly promoted Huddersfield’s win over United in October 2017 and left the John Smith’s Stadium with two hoodies pulled into up, sneaking like a criminal out of court.

Yoro’s compatriot Patrice Evra was 24 when his Manchester City debut lasted 45 minutes with United 2-0 down, an experience he likened to being put in a washing machine. Sixteen and a half years later, Tyrell Malacia was connected at half-time in the same location with City 4-0 up.

These stories should inspire rather than instill terror in Yoro. He has a good support network among the other centre-halves and will be flanked by the upbeat Diogo Dalot and supported by the popular Andre Onana.

So did those who spotted him on the French Riviera.