Leny Yoro's Path to Manchester United's Defense

Leny Yoro has spent two years at Manchester United waiting for his moment. This summer, it might finally be walking towards him.

He opened pre-season in an unfamiliar role, shunted out to right-back in the defeat to Wrexham. It was a job done rather than a statement made, a young centre-half doing his running in the channels while knowing his real battle lies in the middle of the pitch.

Those early July fixtures rarely decide careers. They build legs, not legacies. But Yoro reported back to Carrington on day one of pre-season and that matters. While others are easing their way back or still away, he is already banking minutes, sharpness, and – crucially – trust.

With no major names due back this week, Michael Carrick is likely to take a near-identical squad to Trondheim to face Rosenborg to the one that played Wrexham in Helsinki. That probably means another stint at right-back for Yoro. It is not his preferred role, not even close, yet he will know the real opportunity is coming a little further down the line.

Because United’s central defence, on paper so strong, is already fraying at the edges before a competitive ball has been kicked.

Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven started together at centre-back against Wrexham and could continue as the pairing in Norway. Matthijs de Ligt remains at Carrington, still working his way back from back surgery, and he will not be ready for the start of the new campaign. Lisandro Martinez completes the senior core, but his summer has been brutal.

Martinez left the World Cup with his shirt over his face, forced off injured after being named in the team of the tournament. He is now on holiday, which suggests the issue is not catastrophic, yet as of Wednesday he still did not know the full extent of the problem. Even in the best-case scenario, he is not expected back in pre-season training until roughly a week before United’s Premier League opener on August 22.

That leaves a gap. Even if Martinez is cleared to return in early August, he is unlikely to be fully up to speed to start away at Hull City. A vacancy opens alongside Maguire at the MKM Stadium.

Heaven, 19, offers a left-footed profile similar to Martinez and has impressed since arriving from Arsenal. But Yoro, now 20 and approaching a key birthday in November, remains ahead of him in his development. When United paid £52million to prise him from Lille in the summer of 2024, beating Real Madrid to his signature, they did so expecting that by now he would be close to undroppable.

Instead, his Premier League story so far has been stop-start. Just 30 league starts in two seasons. Glimpses of the player who was once billed as one of the best young defenders in the world, but only glimpses. Too often, he has watched from the bench – named as a substitute 28 times in the league since he arrived.

The talent has never been in doubt. Dan Ashworth, United’s sporting director, made that clear at the time of the deal.

"Leny is one of the most exciting young defenders in world football; he possesses every attribute needed to develop into a top-class centre-back," he said when the transfer was confirmed.

Those attributes have not gone anywhere. Pace, composure, timing in the tackle, comfort on the ball – they are all still there. What has been missing is a sustained run in his natural position, a stretch of games where he can make mistakes, learn, and grow without immediately slipping back to the fringes.

This season offers that chance. Not just at club level, either.

France are heading for a new era, with Zinedine Zidane set to replace Didier Deschamps. For a defender like Yoro, on the cusp of 21, it is a tantalising moment. Break into the United team, stay there, and a path opens towards the national squad. Drift through another campaign on the margins and others will race past him.

If Carrick turns to him at Hull, that night can be a marker. A line in the sand. The manager’s success last season came from ruthless consistency in selection, sticking with his strongest XI and allowing relationships to grow. That stability worked for the team but squeezed the space for players like Yoro, who found themselves locked behind an established partnership of Maguire and Martinez.

When everyone is fit, that pair will likely remain Carrick’s first choice. De Ligt, once available, will not accept a supporting role quietly either; he arrives with his own point to prove after surgery and setbacks.

Yet the long-term picture looks different. Inside the club, there is a sense that the future of United’s defence should be built around Yoro and Heaven. Maguire has told people he believes the young duo can become United’s answer to Gabriel and William Saliba, the cornerstone of a back line capable of dominating the Premier League.

For that to become reality, pre-season cameos at right-back must quickly give way to serious minutes in the centre. Yoro cannot afford another year of almost. Not at this stage of his career, not with this level of investment and expectation.

He begins the summer hugging the touchline, filling in where needed. He will want to end it walking out at Hull as the man in the middle, finally ready to take ownership of a defence that has been waiting for its next leader.