The reported fee for the young starlet is around £58 million plus any additional fees that will be added on later in his United career. This fee means he becomes the most expensive 18-year-old of all time, being more expensive than players such as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.
The question is, is he worth this record-breaking transfer fee that the Red Devils have paid for him?
Yoro is one of the best centre-back prospects we have seen in a very long time. He has become a vital part of a Lille side that finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season. His 6’3 build means he dominates aerially, with him being in the top 94 percentile of centre-backs for losing aerials showing that he is rarely beaten in the air.
He also has very strong passing statistics for his position, with a 92.1% overall passing completion statistic placing him in the top 10% of central defenders. He is particularly impressive with his short passing, with him completing 95.6% of his short passes during the 2023/24 campaign.
This passing ability is advantageous in an Erik Ten Hag system as throughout the 2023/24 season United only averaged 50% possession in their Premier League matches. With Yoro’s fantastic ability to keep the ball, it means that Ten Hag will be able to utilize possession throughout the defence more than he did last season.
One noticeable area of struggle is parts of Yoro’s defensive game. He ranks in the bottom 50% of centre-backs for every key tackling and challenging dribble statistic. This could be a concern as the Red Devils could have to take a massive risk that Yoro will be defensively sound throughout a whole Premier League season.
However, it is key to remember that Yoro’s centre-back partner at Lille, Bafode Diakite, ranked very highly in the statistics where the teenager lacked defensively. This could mean that an experienced partner such as Lisandro Martinez could allow Yoro to be more expressive and take the pressure off his shoulders.
With Yoro only being 18, it creates a risk with just his age alone. Centre-back is one of the hardest positions to play in football, and many of the greatest centre-backs hit their peaks after years of maturing in the position.
With the huge price tag placed on him too, there will be an extreme amount of pressure that the teenager will have to deal with. The Red Devils are notoriously not a very forgiving fanbase when players are not in form, with many players over recent times not performing due to the pressure of playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.
With the club spending nearly £60 million for his signature, the club, manager, and fans will be expecting instant success from Yoro in the Premier League. However, with how well Yoro transitioned into the first team at Lille, he can definitely cope with the pressure of top-flight football.
Overall, it is a large risk for both Yoro and United to take when he is still only 18 years old. For £60 million there are a lot of already proven players in that position that the Red Devils could have signed instead to more or less guarantee instant success in a much-needed position.
However, the potential that Yoro could reach is exponential, and if he grows to become the player that many think he could be, it will prove to be one of the best signings of this summer. The fact he is already performing on the European stage at his age shows he has all the right characteristics to be a generational talent.
So to answer the question of whether Leny Yoro is worth his price, the answer is likely going to be yes. Despite this being fairly certain, we will not know for sure until he steps out onto the pitch in United Red. All statistics nonetheless show that Yoro was worth his price tag and can progress to be one of the best central defenders in the world.
