How Rio helped convince Leny to join United
New Manchester United signing Leny Yoro has revealed that club legend Rio Ferdinand helped convince him to sign for the Reds.
The Frenchman completed a transfer from Lille last Thursday and, after training with his new team-mates for the first time on Friday, made his United debut in Edinburgh, Scotland just a day later.
Yoro played 45 minutes against Rangers, as Erik ten Hag's team recorded a first pre-season win of 2024/25, by beating the Glasgow club 2-0.
The teenager has attracted plenty of attention from across Europe since becoming a regular for Lille's first team.
But in his first major interview since joining the club, which you can watch in full below, he told club media that Rio and another former Red had a big say in his decision to come to England.
Leny Yoro | The Big Interview Video
Leny Yoro | The Big Interview
EXCLUSIVE | Here it is! Watch Leny Yoro's first major interview as a Manchester United player...
"It was like two weeks ago [when I first spoke to Rio]," Leny explained. "He called me.
"First of all, I was really impressed to speak with him and, yeah, we spoke like 10 minutes about Man United, so he helped me a lot to make my choice. It was really an honour to speak with him.
"He spoke to me about the club, and that this is a historic club with a big story, and if I go there I need to fight for the club, to be ready, because this is the biggest club in the world. For me, it was really good to speak about this."
During the interview, club reporter Harry Robinson presented Leny with a personal video message from Ferdinand, who is remembered as one of the great defenders in United history, after 455 appearances in 12 trophy-laden years at Old Trafford.
"That's crazy!" responded Yoro, after seeing the message, in which Rio encourages the youngster by saying: "You've got all the potential, you've got all the tools, man, you've got everything there, ready to rock and roll to go and make a big impact at this club."
"When I was younger, Rio was one of the best defenders in the world," continued the 18-year-old.
"I think everyone watched United when he was young and, for me, it was a dream to play for this club."
"I think everyone watched United when he was young and, for me, it was a dream to play for this club."
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And Rio wasn't Old Trafford's only prominent agent in the negotiations that led to Yoro swapping Hauts-de-France for Greater Manchester.
Academy graduate Angel Gomes, who made his United debut at the age of just 16, currently plays for Lille and, naturally, is a good friend of our new recruit.
"We spoke a lot about United," confessed our second signing of the summer. "He just told me this is the biggest club in the world. You know, the fans, even the way to play, the training camp, everything is really big, is really incredible.
"So, yeah, every day I spoke with him about this and it helped me a lot to come here. He’s really happy for me. He sent me a message directly [after the transfer was completed]."
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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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