Manchester United centre-back Leny Yoro had a memorable debut for France during their 4-1 Nations League win over Belgium at the Stade de France.
Yoro was not initially in the French squad for the Nations League matches, but manager Zinedine Zidane called him up after Ibrahima Konate withdrew due to injury.
The youngster was an unused substitute for three straight games, but made his Les Bleus debut from the off yesterday after Jeremy Jacquet (injury) and Dayot Upamecano (suspension) were absent.
The 20-year-old fully capitalised on the opportunity with a stupendous debut. He won 100 percent of his duels (9/9) and also completed 93 percent of his passes.
Yoro also made six clearances with four recoveries and three tackles. It was a brilliant debut for him with France and showed why he is one of the best young centre-backs.
Despite his standout showing, Yoro is unlikely to start for the Red Devils when they entertain Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Harry Maguire is the regular right-sided centre-back. He has had the international break completely off and should be an assured starter against Spurs this weekend.
Lisandro Martinez won’t play more than 200 minutes for Argentina, and he looks poised to partner Maguire in the heart of the defence at left centre-back.
Yoro may be out of contention, but yesterday’s display showed that he can become a key player.
The £52 million signing possesses plenty of recovery pace and likes to clear his lines. He showed both of those facets against Belgium and also won every duel contested.
Still, there is an underlying weakness when it comes to his physicality. There was one moment yesterday when Yoro could not contend with Romelu Lukaku’s presence.
Yoro clearly needs to bulk up with the Premier League possessing a similar brand of strikers.
If the Frenchman can improve his physical strength, he would no doubt enhance his chances of starting and potentially become an indispensable figure in the XI in future.
Stats from Sofascore.com