Whisper it quietly but Manchester United may have found a little gem in young full-back Diego Leon.
The club had made some pretty significant decisions around the 18-year-old - which indicated the recruitment department believed he had a bright future - even before they opened their pre-season campaign with a 0-0 draw against newly promoted Leeds.
For a start, they invested to bring the Paraguay Under-20 international over from South America.
They then gave him a prized first-team shirt - number 30 - and let highly rated English youngster Harry Amass leave on loan rather than let him compete with Leon for what is presumed to be the back-up left wing-back slot.
Head coach Ruben Amorim opted to start Leon against Leeds in Stockholm, with Matheus Cunha - a summer signing from Wolves - also appearing in a Manchester United shirt for the first time.
And there were little signs that, with the right work ethic, a willingness to listen and enough motivation, Leon could be a very useful asset.
The highlight came at the back end of the first half. A short pass to Chido Obi inside the penalty area was delivered with a delicate touch you would not normally expect of someone Leon's size.
Goodness knows what he was like as a schoolboy in South America, but he is already a solid unit.
That might bring its own problems as he gets accustomed to the intensity of the Premier League and, even in this encounter - played in pleasant conditions despite the sun and mid-afternoon kick-off - Leon seemed to be catching his breath on a couple of occasions.
"He's [in] the first week, second week in Manchester United. He did really well. He's learning things," Amorim told MUTV.
"He's powerful. He's going to be a very good player."
Initially, he was caught out by overlapping runs from Willy Gnonto and Jayden Bogle. But he quickly worked out when danger might present itself and - with a bit of coaching from Luke Shaw, who was playing inside him as the left-sided central defender - he was not exposed in the same manner again.
After Casemiro's deflected shot had bounced back off the top of the crossbar, Leon was confident enough to try to convert the rebound even though the angle was virtually impossible.
It was no surprise he failed, but the attitude bodes well for the future.
Along with the rest of Amorim's starting line-up, the teenager was replaced at half-time in readiness for the three-match trip to the United States to play in the Premier League Summer Series.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c994dnn013ro
Leon catches eye
posted on 20/7/25
For me whether it's Leon or Amass for they future, that's precisely what it is, for the future. Unless you are really special as a teenager (I mean, Rooney, Owen, Yamal etc type breakthrough) it should all be about bringing him on and having a solid pro ahead of him to show him the ropes.
I appreciate our approach is to develop young talent, but we still need some good established pros - otherwise we just end up destroying / slowing down the progress of young players with too much too soon.
Prime example is Kobi - what a player he should be, but we seem to be asking so much of him, even allowing for some weaknesses, will be disappointing if we can't fit him in the team. To a degree Nacho was similar although his attitude hasn't helped.
But I guess at Utd youth will always be overhyped - I always believe that if you are good enough, you are old enough, but you also have to balance allowing them to develop
posted on 20/7/25
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 2 hours, 42 minutes ago
comment by EVERYTHING’S POTE! (U17054)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by BerbaKing11 (U6256)
posted 26 minutes ago
I watched the game and then read this on the BBC yesterday with surprise. It’s as if the article was pre-written.
I thought Leon didn’t look ready at all. And that’s hardly a surprise - he was never going to arrive in the UK at 17/18 years old from Paraguay and be ready to play at PL level from day one.
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100%. He didn’t look at all ready.
His touch and passing were OK, and he can compete physically (which shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone who has seen any given photo of him).
But he was caught ball-watching on several occasions, wandered out of position, failed to track runners, and made a few really poor decisions.
Immediate thought was he needs a loan somewhere, but he’s actually going to need an awful lot of coaching, so maybe it’s better to keep him in house.
Looks a couple of seasons away from being ready for PL football unless he proves to be a very, very quick learner, because he was repeatedly making the kind of errors you don’t get away with in the U18 PL, never mind the PL2.
Who wrote the article posted in the OP?
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Simon Stone
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Yep, figures.
posted on 20/7/25
comment by BerbaKing11 (U6256)
posted 3 hours, 2 minutes ago
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 59 minutes ago
I didn't realise Amass has gone on loan. That's a pretty big indication of where Amorim sees Leon in the pecking order.
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I wouldn’t be so sure. Amass needs a loan because he won’t get much playing time for us this season. Leon needs to be kept in-house for a season (at least) to develop with the youth team/reserves and adjust to life in England. I can’t imagine a scenario where Leon was ever going to go out on loan and I’d be amazed if we saw him getting into matchday squads anytime soon.
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Amass has bulked up quite a bit, but he could still do with an extra couple of inches and few kilos.
Perfect time for him to go on loan to the Championship to get consistent senior football.
posted on 20/7/25
Amass on loan makes sense IMO as does keeping Leon for now in an environment where he can get used to United.
We still have Dorgu, Dalot, Mazraoui, Shaw, Amad (off the top of my head) for the wing back positions even if all of them aren't ideal. If Leon can force himself into the match day squad this season then it's a bonus I think.
posted on 20/7/25
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴 JA606 Class Act (U2462)
posted 1 minute ago
Amass on loan makes sense IMO as does keeping Leon for now in an environment where he can get used to United.
We still have Dorgu, Dalot, Mazraoui, Shaw, Amad (off the top of my head) for the wing back positions even if all of them aren't ideal. If Leon can force himself into the match day squad this season then it's a bonus I think.
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Bro said Luke Shaw… LOL
posted on 20/7/25
The dream - Leon stars as a youngster and bursts onto the scene before becoming our next Ronaldo
The reality - plays a few league cup games and gets sold to Espanyol for £10 million
posted on 20/7/25
(Next Evra even)
posted on 20/7/25
Amass has bulked up quite a bit, but he could still do with an extra couple of inches
—
Kinky
posted on 20/7/25
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴 JA606 Class Act (U2462)
posted 50 minutes ago
Amass on loan makes sense IMO as does keeping Leon for now in an environment where he can get used to United.
We still have Dorgu, Dalot, Mazraoui, Shaw, Amad (off the top of my head) for the wing back positions even if all of them aren't ideal. If Leon can force himself into the match day squad this season then it's a bonus I think.
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LWB worries me a little with Dorgu being our only “senior” player naturally suited to the role.
I thought Shaw looked really poor yesterday. Defensively sound enough, but he keeps putting his WB in trouble by passing it to them when they’ve got nowhere to go and will be under pressure immediately. He did Dorgu dirty a few times towards the end of the season and Infelt he did it a couple of times again yesterday.
Heaven by contrast looks a really good passer of the ball - has a bit of Martinez in him with the ball at his feet, but with some added height and stride length to cover ground. He played a couple of really nice passes through the lines from the back yesterday.
posted on 20/7/25
comment by BerbaKing11 (U6256)
posted 33 minutes ago
comment by Diafol Coch 77 🏴 JA606 Class Act (U2462)
posted 50 minutes ago
Amass on loan makes sense IMO as does keeping Leon for now in an environment where he can get used to United.
We still have Dorgu, Dalot, Mazraoui, Shaw, Amad (off the top of my head) for the wing back positions even if all of them aren't ideal. If Leon can force himself into the match day squad this season then it's a bonus I think.
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LWB worries me a little with Dorgu being our only “senior” player naturally suited to the role.
I thought Shaw looked really poor yesterday. Defensively sound enough, but he keeps putting his WB in trouble by passing it to them when they’ve got nowhere to go and will be under pressure immediately. He did Dorgu dirty a few times towards the end of the season and Infelt he did it a couple of times again yesterday.
Heaven by contrast looks a really good passer of the ball - has a bit of Martinez in him with the ball at his feet, but with some added height and stride length to cover ground. He played a couple of really nice passes through the lines from the back yesterday.
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Yes, there is that worry I suppose but hopefully the workload this season won't be too much. Dalot and Maz can play there even if not ideal.
I think we may have to compromise this season in a few positions unless we get really lucky with a few transfers and players improving/breaking through.
I really like Heaven too. Whilst I think De Ligt will be the go to CCB this season a Yoro, Martinez, Heaven back three would be good from a footballing perspective IMO. The concern would be height of course. Perhaps that could be mitigated a bit though by a more commanding GK?
I'm excited for the season though. At present it feels on a cliff edge where just a few moves could make the difference between a really poor season and a really good one.