Leny Yoro's Journey: From Right-Back to Centre-Back
Leny Yoro has already lived two Manchester United careers in one.
The first was the one imagined when the club beat Real Madrid to his signature in 2024, wiring £52million to Lille for an 18-year-old centre-back billed as one of the most gifted of his generation. The second is the one he has actually lived: 30 Premier League starts in two seasons, 28 appearances from the bench, and a role on the fringes while others formed the backbone of Michael Carrick’s defence.
This summer offers him a third version. And it might be the most important yet.
A right-back in name only
United’s pre-season began with defeat to Wrexham, and with Yoro in an unfamiliar role. Right-back. Out wide, shuttling up and down, doing a job rather than playing his.
He is likely to line up there again in Trondheim against Rosenborg. Carrick is expected to take much the same squad that faced the Championship side in Helsinki, with the big names still missing from Carrington and the emphasis squarely on minutes, not sharp tactical reveals.
For Yoro, though, simply being back on day one of pre-season matters. While others ease their way in after international duty, he is banking sessions, building rhythm, and quietly edging ahead in the race for a starting place when United open their Premier League campaign at Hull City on August 22.
He may be at right-back for now. He has his eyes fixed firmly on the middle.
A vacancy at the heart of defence
The early pre-season picture is clear. Harry Maguire and Ayden Heaven started together at centre-back against Wrexham and could continue there against Rosenborg. Matthijs de Ligt remains at Carrington, working through rehabilitation after back surgery, and will not be ready for the start of the new campaign.
On paper, Carrick has a strong defensive core: Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, De Ligt, Yoro, Heaven. In reality, it is already being tested.
Martinez has just come through a World Cup that ended in agony. He was named in the team of the tournament, then left the pitch with his shirt over his face after injury cut short his campaign. He has gone on holiday, a sign the issue is not thought to be serious, but as of Wednesday he still did not know the full extent of the problem.
Even if he is cleared to return to training in early August, it will be a sprint to be ready for Hull. Match fitness rarely respects the calendar. That leaves a likely vacancy alongside Maguire at the MKM Stadium.
Heaven, 19, is a natural fit as a left-footer, mirroring Martinez’s profile. But inside Carrington, Yoro is still regarded as further along in his development than the former Arsenal defender. United did not spend £52m on him to be a permanent understudy.
Talent waiting to ignite
The promise has never been in doubt. It has just been delayed.
When Dan Ashworth, then United’s sporting director, announced Yoro’s arrival, he called him “one of the most exciting young defenders in world football” and insisted he had “every attribute needed to develop into a top-class centre-back”. Two seasons on, those words still ring true, but they also hang over the player.
The tools are all there. Pace. Timing. Composure in possession. A defender comfortable stepping into midfield, confident defending space, and strong enough to live in the physical chaos of the Premier League. What has been missing is continuity.
Carrick’s success last season was built on consistency. Once he settled on Maguire and Martinez as his first-choice pairing, he rarely moved away from it. Stability at the back helped United; it hurt Yoro. He became the man waiting, watching, covering, rather than the one trusted to start.
This season offers a different dynamic. De Ligt will return from injury with his own point to prove. Martinez must shake off the emotional and physical toll of his World Cup. Heaven is pushing hard, eager and left-footed. Maguire remains the senior anchor.
In that crowded room, Yoro has to stop being the future and start being the present.
Club and country calling
The stakes stretch beyond Old Trafford.
Yoro turns 21 in November. At the same time, the international landscape around him is shifting. With Zinedine Zidane set to replace Didier Deschamps, a new era looms for the French national team. New managers bring new hierarchies, and they tend to look closely at emerging defenders who are playing regularly at the highest level.
Yoro knows that if he nails down a place at United this season, he can force his way into that conversation. Regular football at the heart of Carrick’s defence could carry him straight into Zidane’s plans.
That is why a seemingly routine opening-day trip to a newly-promoted Hull side could feel anything but routine for him. If he starts, it is more than a team sheet. It is a statement. A chance to plant a flag and refuse to give the shirt back.
The partnership waiting to happen
Inside the dressing room, the vision for United’s defence is already being spoken aloud. Maguire has told people he believes Yoro and Heaven can become United’s answer to Gabriel and William Saliba, the pairing that has driven Arsenal’s rise and set the standard for Premier League back lines.
The comparison is lofty. It is also logical. Two young centre-backs, one right-sided, one left-sided, both comfortable on the ball, both aggressive without it. A partnership that could, in theory, define United’s back four for the next decade.
For now, it is only potential. Yoro still finds himself shunted to right-back in pre-season, still looking up at the established hierarchy. But the season ahead feels different. There is a gap to exploit, a manager who values reliability, and a squad that needs someone to step forward while others recover or reset.
Yoro’s first two years at Old Trafford have been about waiting. This one cannot be.
He starts the summer on the flank. If he gets his way, he will walk out at Hull not as a stop-gap full-back, but as the man in the middle, finally ready to own the role United bought him for.
