Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has revealed that summer signing Leny Yoro is in contention to be in the matchday squad vs. Arsenal.
United will travel to the capital on Wednesday to take on Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing Arsenal.
Yoro has been sidelined for four months since he picked up a metatarsal injury in pre-season, that required him to be subjected to an operation.
Over the past few weeks, Yoro has been training with his teammates but the defender has not been included in any matchday squad.
It now seems like the teenager’s wait to make his competitive debut for the Red Devils is finally set to come to an end. Ahead of the meeting with Arsenal, Amorim spoke to reporters and said about Yoro, “We have one more training session to see it. Maybe Leny Yoro is going to be in the squad.”
“I feel he is in a good moment now, his fitness is better, so I think he is going to be in the squad. The others we have to see, some players are tired and we have to assess tomorrow in training.”
“I think he’s a special talent, you have to be careful in this first moment because we didn’t have too many trainings together, he is training not alone, but with a small group of players.”
“He is really fast, he is a modern defender and that is good when you want to press high and you leave a lot of strikers, especially in this league one against one, I think he can manage that. He is very good with the ball, so I’m really excited.”
“I have to be careful. We have to manage the load and the minutes in the beginning but I am really excited to see Leny Yoro play.”
Bruno Fernandes was taken off in the second half, during United’s 4-0 victory over Everton on Sunday. The Portugal international was spotted with an ice pack wrapped around his ankle. This sparked concerns that he may have got hurt but Amorim has alleviated any such worries.
“Now he’s fit to play. I see him already this morning. He’s fit to play, he’s a guy that doesn’t need a lot of rest, you know him, so he is prepared to play.”
On facing Arsenal, Amorim remarked, “It’s the best team that we faced by far (so far). But the test is every game. If you see the last game yesterday was really tough. Was 4-0 but you see the game like I see it, so everything now is a test without so many minutes to train. Trying to manage the number of minutes for a lot players who cannot manage more than one game.”
“Some players have to be out of the pitch 60 minutes, 70 minutes, it’s really hard in this moment, everything is a test. Arsenal, for me, are in a different point of their team, they are in a different moment.”
On why the press conference was unusually held at Old Trafford, Amorim replied, “We have a meeting with all the staff trying to connect everyone, the sports part here are far from Carrington. We are trying to build a connection between Carrington and Old Trafford.”
“This is something you cannot buy, the pedigree, the size of the club, we have to use it. It is a key point for us. Also improving the youth teams and creating a connection between every part to put his club in the place it needs to be.”
Amorim gave his verdict on the fact that United fans have already coined a chant for him.
“I don’t like my chant! I feel a bit embarrassed because I’m a coach! I understand and I really appreciate the connection with the supporters, but I want them to support the team and the players, because they are on the pitch and I’m outside of it but I am really honoured about that.”
“I feel the connection with the supporters but we know that we need the results to maintain that.”
Arsenal vs. United kicks off at 20:15 BST.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
