Man Utd defender Leny Yoro sat down at Carrington to reflect on his first season and his hopes for the future.
Yoro joined United last year
A photo of Leny Yoro wearing a sequin gold jacket at Carrington made its way onto social media last week.
Yoro was dressed like an old-school game show host in the training ground canteen. He lost the crossbar challenge and wore the outfit as a forfeit. Luke Shaw shared the image.
Bruno Fernandes commented on and Mason Mount liked the post. There is strong camaraderie in Manchester United’s dressing room.
“The character is really important, for the atmosphere of the team also,” Yoro told journalists this week. “I think the club is doing well with this, to take only people and can bring good things in the team. We don’t want any bad things in the team. It’s really important for us.
“So, like you said, try to be focused on the team. Don’t do any drama. Just speak with everyone, have a good relationship. This is the best, I think, for the team. We cannot build something with bad energy or bad atmosphere or bad characters. I think the club is doing well with this.”
Yoro added: “I have a good relationship with everyone, but I stay more with Kobbie [Mainoo], also Amad, he speaks French also. Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu, Ayden [Heaven], the young guys.
“We stay a lot together, but everyone has a good relation. I have a really good relation with Cunha, Shaw, Bruno, everyone. The thing that’s good is that there is no group of friends in the team.
“This is just one group of friends. This is the best for the team, I think, to not have any drama or something like this. And Kobbie, yeah, sometimes he brings me to some places in Manchester.”
Yoro and Mainoo are so close that they enjoyed a holiday together before pre-season. “Before I arrived at the club, I spoke with him also because we had some guys in relation,” he said.
“When I came here, he was someone I was with every time. Of course, we have the same age, we have the same relationship. When you have someone like this in your team, it’s important to have a good relation. He’s a top guy. We spend the holiday together. It’s important for us to have this type of relation.”
Yoro after the crossbar challenge forfeit.
United completed the signing of Yoro from Lille for €62million (£54m) plus €8m (£7m) in the summer of 2024. Real Madrid were long-term admirers of Yoro and were heavily linked with making an offer for him.
The Frenchman was asked about Madrid’s interest and said: “Yeah, I know the media, sometimes there’s some information that’s not completely true sometimes. This is some choice you need to make in your career.
“I’ve had a couple of clubs [showing an interest], not just Madrid or United, I had a lot of clubs. Today my choice is Manchester, so I’m really happy with this.
“I know some people talked about this last year because of the results. I can understand them, but honestly, it’s my choice, my career. I know what I’m doing, and I’m just going to be better in the future.”
Yoro’s first season in Manchester did not go as planned. He fractured his metatarsal before the campaign, United finished 15th in the Premier League and lost against Tottenham in the Europa League final.
“Honestly, I think the experience, especially when you’re centre-half, it’s really important,” Yoro said about whether the Premier League had been an eye-opener.
“I’m just 19, but when you’re on the pitch, you don’t care about this. If I have a duel with a 30-year-old guy, I’m not going to think about my age, but in terms of some situations, some duels, I think sometimes you need this experience.
“When you see guys like Harry [Maguire], De Ligt, Shaw, the experienced guys like this, they have some way to face the situation. When you’re a centre-half, it depends when you start your career.
“But especially around 25, 24, or even 27, this is like your peak level because of the experience you have on the pitch. A different way to face the situation is important sometimes.”
Yoro continued: “I think everyone knows last season was a really emotional season, I’m going to say. Not even for the coach, for everyone. It was tough, honestly, it was tough for us.
“To sometimes face the games, face training. So everyone was emotional, to be honest. I think this year is different. Like you say, we didn’t have the Champions League, but if you can take the good way of this, we have more time to train, we have more freedom in our head.
“So, the coach is not different from last year, it’s just the result that is different. And every footballer knows that when you win on the day, you have a really perfect week after. It’s more about the result in the head. It’s not as emotional as last year, I’m going to say.”
Yoro after his arrival from Lille in July 2024.
Yoro did not regret his decision to sign for United during a challenging first 12 months. “I said a couple of times, even with last season, I never had this feeling of regret or something like this,” he said.
“I know Manchester United, I know sometimes you can have a bad season, but this club is a top club, so you cannot have doubts about this. I know the project of the club also before I came.
“Of course, I cannot expect the first year to finish in 15th position. These are some things you need to face also. But you have the director of the club, the coach, all the players, they’re here to push you every day. You have confidence in this club. You need to put your heads up every day and try to do your best.”
United enjoyed an excellent October, winning three games on the bounce against Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, which silenced the conversation about Ruben Amorim’s system and his future.
“I have no problem with the system,” said Yoro. “I say a couple of times I like to play with three defenders, have more freedom. It’s not about the system. You can see we won games against back four and things like this.
“Last year, people were saying this because of the results, but you can see this year it’s better than last year, but we have the same system. We just need to work on small things. But for me, I have no preference [between three or four at the back]. I can play both, and if I’m on the pitch, I’m happy.”
Yoro has started seven league games this season. He has been substituted off in five of those matches, with Amorim reshuffling his defensive line in the closing stages of contests.
“I think it’s just the preference of the coach to do this,” he explained. “We get used to it now, since last year, so it’s not a problem for us. For example, I know if I’m coming off and Nous (Mazraoui) is coming on like in the last game, I know he’s going to give something more to the team.
“This is something we get used to and it’s not a problem for us. Yes [Amorim has explained why he makes the changes], but I cannot tell you everything he’s saying to us. Of course, we speak with him every time, especially the defenders.
“I think it’s important for us to understand everything and to know why sometimes he’s doing some changes. We had some conversations about this, but this is not a problem for us. Like I said, if I’m on the pitch and I’m happy, if someone subs me, we can add something to the team.”
Yoro pictured against Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Yoro has started on the right of the back-three, meaning he combines with Amad and Mbeumo. “When I play with Amad and Bryan, I know that Amad likes to attack a lot,” he said.
“He’s defending also, but of course, it’s not the same as if I’m with Diogo Dalot or Mazraoui, because they’re more defensive guys, but it’s good for me also to have two guys in front who can really attack every time.
“I’m here also to help them to have the freedom to attack and stay on the back to protect, but I think it’s good for them to have two people to attack like this.”
Mbeumo and Amad have gone viral for celebrating with a Homer Simpson dance. “Bryan saw a video on the internet and he started doing it, Amad joined in and I joined him after. We said if we score on the weekend, maybe we can do it, but I was too far in defence, so they did it without me,” Yoro said.
“It’s Homer Simpson doing this. It’s crazy, but I can’t remember. We need to ask Mbeumo for this. It’s funny.”
United’s players have focused on practising defending set-pieces in training. “Even more than last year,” said Yoro about the growing importance of set-plays.
“You can see with Arsenal, they do really well on this, even the long throw this year. We work more on this in training, of course. I think every team does it. You have a coach for this, we are really focused on this. You can save the game, you can kill your game, so we’re really focused on this.”
And they are focused on returning to Europe. “When you’re at Manchester United, you need to play in Europe, especially with what happened last year. Everyone knows our idea is to be in the top, to be in the Champions League, of course. I think we can reach it,” he explained.
Yoro named Sergio Ramos, Rio Ferdinand and Raphael Varane as defenders he admires. Ferdinand spoke to Yoro to advise him when he signed and predicted he would “grow” enormously this season.
The Frenchman has been watching footage of Ferdinand to improve aspects of his own game. It looks to be paying off.