Evening Standard
·20 November 2024
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·20 November 2024
Summer signing is fit again and could provide a solution to big problem facing Amorim ahead of his first game in charge
Manchester United’s injury crisis at centre-back is one of the biggest problems facing Ruben Amorim ahead of his first match in charge against Ipswich on Sunday.
Whatever Amorim can hope to achieve on the training ground in his first few sessions this week, he will not be able to help speed up the recovery of any of his injured defenders.
Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof remain sidelined and Lisandro Martinez is in a race to be fit for the weekend after being sent home from Argentina duty due to a back issue.
That means Amorim could have to throw Leny Yoro in for his first United start at Portman Road.
Manchester United via Getty Imag
Yoro has yet to play for United since fracturing his foot in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal shortly after his £52.2million move from Lille in the summer.
But the 19-year-old returned to training at Carrington this month.
In an ideal world, Amorim would ease Yoro into the side.
But he may not have that luxury with an exciting player who was wanted by Real Madrid and several elite clubs around Europe before he joined United.
Yoro is viewed by many as a perfect fit for Amorim’s 3-4-3 system.
At 6ft 3in he has a physical presence but he also has the ability to play out from the back and is an excellent reader of the game.
Needing three centre-backs and with the number of injuries in the squad, Yoro must be in Amorim’s thinking as he bids to start the new era at United on a high.
United’s lightness in defence was further highlighted on Monday when, in Amorim’s first session, 16-year-old Godwill Kukonki was promoted to train with the first team.
For Yoro, the next few weeks represent a real chance to impress after his early fitness setback.
The Frenchman could line up in the middle or on the right of a three-man defence.
In his 32 appearances in Ligue 1 for Lille last term, he played predominantly as the right-sided centre-back in a back four.
Like Matthijs de Ligt, one of few United defenders not injured, Yoro is seen as an all-rounder and someone of whom big things are expected as one of the first major signings of the INEOS era.
There is even a feeling that his injury was potentially beneficial to him getting to grips with life at a big club like United, where the scrutiny on players is so high.
The hope is that Yoro has settled off the pitch. Now for him to settle on it.