Arteta told £52m Man Utd star would ‘shine’ at Arsenal if he left ‘sick’ Red Devils | OneFootball

Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna insists Leny Yoro would be thriving if he’d joined the Gunners over Man Utd in 2024.

The Red Devils signed Yoro from Lille two years ago for £52m as Man Utd invested in the future of their defence.

Yoro played just 60 times for Lille before his move to Old Trafford and the France Under-21 international has struggled to become a regular under Ruben Amorim or new head coach Michael Carrick.

The 20-year-old has started 30 of his 55 Premier League matches for Man Utd since joining and Yoro has made just two substitute appearances in the league this term under Carrick.

Yoro has fallen behind the experienced centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez and Sagna has blamed the young defender’s start to life at Old Trafford on Man Utd.

Sagna told Action Network: “He is another top player but he came to a sick team. When he joined, the team was sick.

“So yes I would love to see him perform well when everyone else is doing well but they started badly.

“You know when the team is not in form, to shine individually is more difficult. It’s not impossible because Bruno Fernandes proved it.

“But if the whole team is struggling and the team is sick, then there’s a higher chance you get sick too and in trouble.

“You’re going to have times over the course of the season where it’s going to be tougher for you because you’re going to get exposed as a defender.”

Sagna reckons Yoro would already be shining if the Man Utd centre-back had moved to Arsenal in 2024 when the Gunners were on a different trajectory to the Red Devils.

The former Arsenal defender added: “He’s a nice prospect, an amazing player.

“If he came to Arsenal and Arsenal were shining, he would probably have been shining too.

“So it’s not only about the quality of the player, it’s also about how the team is performing at that time. I think hopefully United as a team will bounce back and Yoro will have a good season because he’s a top player.”

Carrick needs to stop playing Yoro at right-back – Man Utd legend

Yoro has also been used as a back-up option at right-back but Man Utd legend Gary Neville only wants to see him used as a centre-back.

Neville said on The Overlap: “I don’t think he understands right-back, which is fine, a lot of centre-backs don’t.

“But we’ve got to stop bringing him on there and thinking he’s a right-back.

“My feeling is Michael Carrick maybe sees him as a more defensive right-back option, similar to what Liverpool did with Ronald Araujo given their issues at right-back.”