Manchester United’s chief executive Omar Berrada joined the club last summer and wanted to start his tenure with a bang in the summer transfer window.
When it was confirmed that Manchester United would be bringing Omar Berrada to the club from rivals Manchester City, many were excited by the appointment.
The 47-year-old had been part of the team which helped see City become a dominant force in England and across Europe.
His first major involvement at Old Trafford was in the summer transfer window last summer. United brought in five first-team players for around £200 million.
But it was the signing of Leny Yoro from Lille which caught the eye, with United beating out competition from Real Madrid to bring in the French wonderkid for just over £50 million.
Reports from the time stated that Berrada was the man leading negotiations for Yoro and that he had become “obsessed” with getting a deal over the line for the teenager.
Alongside the excitement, there were also some eyebrows raised due to the price tag committed for such a young player. Some weren’t entirely sure whether Berrada’s move was the right one and it didn’t help when Yoro suffered injury in pre-season.
Berrada completely vindicated on Yoro after Maguire praise
Since returning from injury in November, Yoro has gone from strength to strength despite being in a poor United side. Firstly he was coming off the bench and making an impact against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
It wasn’t long until Ruben Amorim started bringing the Frenchman into the side and he has been a crucial player in recent weeks, particularly in the Europa League.
In fact, despite the absolute craziness of United’s quarter-final clash against Lyon, Harry Maguire believes that his fellow defender was the standout performer across the two legs.
Speaking to the media after his dramatic winning goal on Thursday night, Maguire unpromptedly decided to issue big praise for Yoro.
“I think Leny was brilliant again,” Maguire said. “Over the two ties I’d say he’s been our best player, so congratulations to Leny.”
While there may have been initial question marks over Berrada’s gamble on bringing Yoro into the club, they are gone now and Maguire’s praise vindicates the United executive’s decision.
Yoro making the LCB spot his own
After playing the majority of his minutes on the right of the back three earlier in the season, Yoro is really finding his form on the opposite side.
Playing as the left centre-back seems to suit the defender right now, even if some believe that he has the abilities to be the central player in the long-term.
In particular, his ball-carrying is very useful and that was best shown in the second-leg against Lyon. With the ball at his feet, Yoro can eat up the ground and also make a good decision at the end of it.
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He is calm on the ball and can step out of the defensive line with the ability to recover well if needed. That is absolutely essential for the wide centre-backs in Amorim’s system.
Now, heading into the final stages of this season, that spot on the left side of the defence is Yoro’s to lose and he could end up being very important for United in the remaining games of their Europa League charge.
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