New United centre-back Leny Yoro has made the surprising admission that he was compared to former Reds winger Nani, as an aspiring young footballer.
The Frenchman joined us from Lille last week, and has been described by sporting director Dan Ashworth as
“one of the most exciting young defenders in world football”.
But in his first major interview – which is now available to all MUTV subscribers – Yoro told club media that he started his football career as a striker.
And when we asked him which professional he was most often likened to, back in the day, he mentioned the popular Portuguese ex-Red.
“A lot of people compared me to Nani when I was young,”he recalled, “because I was fast like him and I loved this player.
”For me, it was a target to be like him. But now this is not the same, because I'm a defender! But, yeah, this was my player.
“Before, I was a striker. So yeah, this is not the same from now. I was really fast, I was tall, so I scored a lot of goals.”
Nani joined Sir Alex Ferguson's United in the summer of 2007, and helped us win the Premier League and the Champions League in his first season, memorably scoring a penalty in the dramatic shootout against Chelsea in Moscow.
He scored 41 times in 230 appearances for the club, before departing in 2014.
Elsewhere in the revealing 19-minute interview, Yoro also spoke about the attackers he has most enjoyed facing, during his burgeoning career as one of Europe's most feted young defenders.
One being a world-famous winger, and the other among the Premier League's most dangerous strikers.
One being a world-famous winger, and the other among the Premier League's most dangerous strikers.
“I really liked to play against, of course, [Kylian] Mbappe,”said Leny. “It was a really big, big, big, deal, so yeah for me it helped me a lot to improve myself.
”It was good against [Aston Villa star] Ollie Watkins too, because this is a big striker here.“
Yoro made his United debut in Saturday's 2-0 win over Rangers in Edinburgh, and will hope to keep his place in the starting XI for this weekend's exciting friendly with Arsenal – the first match of Tour 2024, presented by Snapdragon.
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Subscribers can watch our upcoming pre-season fixtures against Arsenal, Real Betis and Liverpool, where Leny Yoro could make further appearances in the red shirt.
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