Diego Leon has been in Manchester for almost a full year, and yet his goal of playing for the first team is as far-fetched as ever.
Last summer, Diego Leon joined Manchester United from Cerro Porteno in Paraguay as an 18-year-old with plenty to learn.
Leon boldly stated his intention to be a first-team player immediately, in an airport interview on his way to sign his United contract.
This hasn’t panned out yet for Leon, as he has much to learn. This season in particular will have seen him undergo a lot of change, including adapting to life in England.
Diego León with Lisandro Martinez in training.
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Diego Leon admits struggles with communication at Manchester United
In an interview with Vs Sports, Leon has admitted to the difficulties that he faced when he first joined United and turned up at Carrington.
“At the beginning, it was a bit difficult, honestly. When I first arrived, I didn’t understand any English. My girlfriend and I would go out, and people would speak to us, and I felt very uncomfortable because they were talking and we didn’t understand anything.”
Leon then moved on to reflect on similar issues with his teammates.
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“When I arrived at training, the players wanted to talk to me, and I couldn’t speak with them. That bothered me quite a lot. Then I told myself: I have to learn English.”
Following this, Leon took action and put himself into learning the language.
“The first time I spoke for almost an hour, they were surprised,” he added.
As early as pre-season, United players had taken a shine to Leon, despite his inability to communicate with them to a high level.
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Manchester United should have helped Diego Leon prepare for move
While a deal was confirmed in July, Leon’s move was completed six months prior, as he travelled to sign for the club in January 2025.
Due to this, it is baffling that the club didn’t think to try and aid his settlement in a new country by giving him English lessons in advance of the move, as six months could have seen him reach a decent level.
Leon has enough work to do on the pitch with improvements needed on and off the ball. So the club helping him with the language step of settling in prior to the move should have been on the agenda.
This coming summer, Cristian Orozco will make a similar move from Colombia, and hopefully, United will have given him the chance to learn prior to moving to Manchester.
This could significantly hasten his settling in.
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