One of Manchester United’s forgotten signings will finally join the club at the beginning of July before the club take a decision on Rúben Amorim’s pre-season.
As Manchester United continue to navigate the summer transfer window, Rúben Amorim is already gearing up his squad for the new Premier League season.
Pre-season training begins in mid-July, with five fixtures on the agenda. The first sees United travel to Sweden to take on long-time rivals Leeds United at the Strawberry Arena.
They’ll then jet off to the United States for games against West Ham, Bournemouth, and Everton, before returning to Old Trafford to host David de Gea’s Fiorentina in their final warm-up match.
The Premier League have now confirmed that United will kick off their 2025/26 campaign with a high-profile showdown against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, 17 August, at 16:30 BST.
Leon finally set to join United
United’s first summer signing was the £62.5 million acquisition of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers. It is arguably Amorim’s first major signing as the club’s head coach.
In January, United also signed Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu from Serie A side Lecce for approximately £25 million. Meanwhile, 18-year-old centre-back Ayden Heaven was purchased from Arsenal for £1.5 million and has become a quick fan favourite, cementing his place within the squad.
However, the beginning of 2025 also saw United sign 18-year-old Paraguayan Diego Leon from Cerro Porteño for around £3.2 million, with the potential for this to rise to £6.1 million dependent on performance.
Although Leon was pictured at Old Trafford when he signed, he remained in Paraguay for the remainder of the campaign, which has led many to forget that the player was officially signed alongside the aforementioned duo.
Journalist Adriano Savalli has now confirmed that, although it was initially speculated that Leon would join in mid-June, he will now start at his new club on 1 July.
Is Leon joining United on pre-season?
Currently, Amorim has Dorgu and teenage star Harry Amass as options at left wing-back in his squad, with Luke Shaw now being viewed as a centre-back; however, recent reports have suggested that United view Leon as a first-team signing.
As is often the case with signing players aged 18 or younger, the club often choose to put them with the Academy for the first few weeks or months of their time at United before later bedding them into the first team – something that Heaven, Amad, and Chido Obi have all benefited from.
With Leon, although this may also be the case, he will likely be part of the squad Amorim takes to pre-season, as the club often chooses to fill a number of the spots on the plane to the USA with up-and-coming talents alongside the first team.
There will be fewer spots than usual as United’s entire first-team squad will report for duty on the first day of training, since no United players have been involved in any major summer tournaments.
But, with Leon’s clear potential, he will likely be able to showcase himself to United fans for the first team across the club’s five pre-season fixtures.
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