Rio Ferdinand waxed lyrical about the potential of Leny Yoro and said the Manchester United defender ‘could be anything’ he wants.
Yoro, 19, made the move to Old Trafford last summer in a £52million deal from Lille, but endured an incident-filled first season in the Premier League.
The Frenchman sustained a serious injury just weeks after joining the club, and returned to full fitness with a new manager in charge after Erik ten Hag’s dismissal.
Still, Yoro managed to make 33 appearances in all competitions last season, emerging as one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise nightmare campaign for the Red Devils.
Building on his first year at the club, Yoro has started every league game so far this season and appears to have established himself as a key figure in Ruben Amorim’s back-three system.
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Ferdinand can understand why Amorim rates the young centre-back so highly, and is confident Yoro can go on to achieve great things at the club if given the time to learn and grow.
‘I love him. I don’t know where is ceiling is, but he could be anything,’ the former United defender told United We Stand when asked about Yoro.
‘He just needs the pieces around him as well to help him as a young kid, but I think he has the nucleus of all the right traits to be a top centre half and he will be because he wants to be as well.
‘He’s a hard worker and he’s diligent, but he needs time as well.’
Despite their lowly finish in the league last season and lack of European football, it proved another big summer of spending for United.
The Red Devils splashed more than £200m on five new summer signings as they looked to refresh Amorim’s options, particularly in the final third.
And Ferdinand believes that the arrival of Premier League-proven duo Mattheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo may prove to be vital as United search for more dynamism and threat in the final third.
‘I’ve said for the last couple of years that we lack pace and power and aggression throughout the whole team,’ he added.
‘Who have we got in the team who has that? Dorgu, maybe. The Premier League is about that, the whole game is about that nowadays.
‘You look at PSG, the best team, they have pace everywhere. You look at our team and there isn’t enough of it.
‘Cunha and Mbeumo both bring that but also the Premier League experience and the know-how to score goals and that ability to get up the pitch and turn defence into attack quickly.
‘They’ve shown they can score goals in this league and we haven’t had that for a while.’
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