Man Utd defender Diego Leon arrived at Old Trafford in the summer and recently made his senior debut for Paraguay.
United defender Diego Leon.(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
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Diego Leon believes it's "huge" for Paraguay to have a player from the country who represents Manchester United.
Leon completed a medical to finalise his move from Paraguay side Cerro Porteno in January, but the deal outlined that he would move to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window.
United agreed a £3.3million fee, rising to £7m with add-ons, to sign the young defender.
Before Leon travelled to Manchester, he spoke to local journalists at an airport in Paraguay, saying: “I’m going to kill it in the pre-season, and within one or two games, I’ll already be playing with them [first-team]."
The youngster's transfer made headlines in his homeland and Leon discussed the impact of his move.
"For Paraguay, to have a player playing here at United is huge," he told club media. "I think for Paraguayans they’re very proud to have someone from there playing in a club as big as Manchester United.
"It is an amazing, unique feeling to represent your country for all the people of Paraguay. I don’t know, it has no explanation - for my family it is an immense sense of pride to see me play with my national team."
Leon was asked to describe Paraguay to those unfamiliar with the country. "The people of Paraguay will surprise you. They’re so kind, even if they don’t have much, they will always help you," he said.
The 18-year-old impressed coaches at Carrington upon his arrival and was named in the pre-season tour squad. Ruben Amorim has named Leon in matchday squads against Grimsby Town, Manchester City, Brentford and Sunderland this season, but he has not made his senior debut.
In August, there was a sense among academy staff that Leon would benefit from getting minutes in his legs during youth matches when he had been exclusively working with the first-team.
Leon made his first appearance for the academy in a friendly shortly afterwards. The left-back is still considered raw and needs time to adapt to English football after his summer arrival.
Under-21 manager Travis Binnion was recently asked about Leon and explained: "It is evident for all to see he has some real qualities and some strong foundations to his game that he has to build on.
"He is aware, we are all aware, he has stuff to work on but to be fair to the kid, he has not played a full 90 minutes yet. We will be looking to tick that off pretty soon and that will be really good for him.
"If he can get a run of 90 minutes, then it is fair to look at his game and see where he is at. At this moment in time he has shown real glimpses of promise and has fitted in with the group really well."
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