Leny Yoro has suddenly become one of the most wanted teenagers in world football and has been linked strongly with Manchester United and Real Madrid over a potential summer transfer.
The central defender is just 18 years old but has already been hugely impressive for Lille in Ligue 1 and will feature for Thierry Henry's side in the Olympic Games in Paris.
At such a young age, he already has a sparkling reputation, so let's take a closer look at why.
When did Leny Yoro make his professional debut?
Yoro has been with Lille since 2017 and progressed through their young ranks before eventually making his professional debut in a 3–1 Ligue 1 win over Nice on 14 May 2022 at the age of 16 years, six months and one day. He is the second-youngest player ever to feature for Lille, behind Joel Depraeter-Henry.
What are Yoro's strengths?
Yoro has a thin frame but he makes up for that in his stature as he is over 6ft 2in tall, which allows him to be frequently dominant in aerial duels. In Ligue 1 last season, he won 2.3 aerial duels per game on average.
In fact, on average, he won the majority of his tackles, duels and aerial duels per game.
His elegance on the ball has drawn comparisons to his compatriot Raphael Varane, who also broke through as a youngster in Ligue 1 before making that huge move to Real Madrid.
His real strength is his command of the ball at the back as he recorded a pass completion rate of 92% in Ligue in 2023/24. That is impressive when you consider he made 63.1 passes per game.
How old is Leny Yoro?
Yoro was born on 13 November 2005. He is 18 years old at the time of writing.
What is Leny Yoro’s Instagram?
Yoro’s Instagram account is @lenyyoro. He has 53.8k followers as of March 2024.
Who wants to sign Leny Yoro?
Yoro's contract expires in 2025 which means Lille must cash in on the player this summer if they want to earn a significant transfer fee.
Madrid seems the most likely destination for the player. However, Man Utd have attempted to hijack any potential deal for Los Blancos by offering €60 million to Lille this week.
The player himself would prefer a move to Madrid as they can provide Champions League football, but their focus recently has been on the acquisition of Kylian Mbappe.
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