Leny Yoro completed a £52m move from Lille to Manchester United this summer (Picture: Getty)
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United new boy Leny Yoro is the ‘best in the world’ for his age at centre-back.
The Red Devils put an end to months of speculation with official confirmation of Yoro’s arrival from Lille last month, with the 18-year-old joining for a fee of around £52million.
Real Madrid had appeared in pole position to capture Yoro’s services before United won the race for his signature. Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain were also credited with a strong interest earlier in the transfer window.
After two eye-catching seasons in Ligue 1, Yoro has established himself as one of the finest young defenders in European football and United are confident the teenager has the attributes to become a genuine world-class talent.
However, Erik ten Hag will have to wait around three months before Yoro is available for first-team action after the Frenchman suffered a serious foot injury in United’s pre-season friendly with Arsenal.
Ferdinand’s role in the move was well-documented, with the legendary former United centre-back tasked with convincing the youngster to choose Old Trafford over the Bernabeu.
Asked how this came about on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, Ferdinand explained: ‘I know [United technical director] Jason Wilcox, we played with each other at Leeds United all them years ago. He then went to City as the academy manager and we ended up staying in contact.
‘But obviously Leny Yoro being a centre-back, a young kid, I made a similar type of move as a young player and had that experience.
‘They all know I love watching and chatting to the young players and just seeing where they are, what they’re like as young human beings as well. If any of the young players want or need any advice, I’m always there. They can get through to me through different channels.
So with that in mind, I just reached out to Leny just to see, “Listen, if you ever needed to speak to anybody about this to make the right decision”. Yes, Real Madrid wanted him. Yes, Liverpool wanted him. But I wanted him to come to Manchester United.
I watched this kid a few times now, seen a lot of highlights of him as well, and I just feel at his age he’s the best in the world. At that age, there ain’t no one – I don’t think – near him at that age with the experience that he’s got at that age. No one comes close.’
‘I think his ceiling is super high but you need to make the right decisions. I made those steps.’
Ferdinand believes Yoro is the best centre-half on the planet for his age (Picture: Getty)
Ferdinand hopes that United are able to return to their former glory under INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which could convince a player of Yoro’s quality to stay for ’10 or 12 years’ rather than having their head turned by the likes of Real Madrid.
‘Listen, I have to be honest, I said to him as well, “If your dream is that one day you want to play for Real Madrid… you’d love to play for Manchester United”,’ Ferdinand continued.
‘From what he was saying to me, he loved both clubs. But I said, “Listen, you could do both but I think the best step for you right now is Manchester United”.
‘Listen, he may go to Real Madrid in five, six, seven years but this might also be a catalyst or Man United could turn it around and he stays here for 10 or 12 years, that’s my hope. But for his step as an individual, taking my Man United hat off, as an individual it’s the perfect step for him to come to Man United at this stage of his career.’
The Frenchman has been ruled out for the next three months through injury (Picture: Getty)
Rio Ferdinand feels he ‘pricked Yoro’s ears a little bit’ when he reassured the defender that United was the best possible place for his ‘game-time and development’.
‘Listening to him speak, he sounded so mature and so sure of himself. Confident without being arrogant or ignorant at all,’ he went on.
‘And he asked some good questions about playing and game-time. And when I was telling him these types of things there wasn’t really any rebuttal at all, it was just a deep listening type thing.
‘I wasn’t too sure where he was going to go. I was confident that he’d heard me and I think that’s the most important thing. You go on a call sometimes with people and you think, “I don’t know if I actually got beneath the surface”.
‘I pricked his ears a little bit with a couple of things, especially around game-time and development and the club really wanting to push you on and build around you.
‘That’s where Man United are at the moment with these young players. You look at the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, the club are wanting to build around these types of young players and he’ll fall into that category easily.’
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