Liverpool pursue Lille centre-back Leny Yoro as an ideal successor to captain Virgil van Dijk despite advantage for Real Madrid
Lille centre-back Leny Yoro remains an ideal Virgil van Dijk successor for Liverpool despite the advantage over Real Madrid. Yoro enjoyed a strong season with Lille after establishing himself as they finished 4th in the Ligue-1 last season.
The 18-year-old maintained his status as a regular first-team player due to his qualities and maturity beyond his young age. Standing at 1.90 metres, Yoro has the physical presence and athleticism in the backline to compete with any attacking opponent.
The French U23 has the pace and stamina to cover distance and make good recoveries when opponents exploit any spaces. However, Yoro’s best quality is his sense of positioning and his calmness which is similar to Liverpool captain Van Dijk.
The Frenchman maintains a good position in the defence as part of Lille’s set-up while his teammates press the opponents. They force their opponents to play long or direct balls towards the defence which Yoro could counter with his positioning.
The 18-year-old has the pace and aerial abilities to counter forwards in a duel and end the opposition’s direct play. He times his tackles and interceptions but his positioning allows him to drift the opposition forwards away from threatening places.
Another similarity with Van Dijk that must have attracted Liverpool towards Yoro is his method of dealing with the dribblers. He is difficult to beat in duels and stays adamantly with the dribbler while making crunching tackles to display dominance.
Yoro has similar attributes to Van Dijk when his team is on the ball despite playing with a different tactic. The Frenchman drops wide when Lille build their game from the backline with the goalkeeper starting the buildup.
Lille prefers to attack from the wide areas in the attacking phases which requires finding wide players in the right spaces. Yoro has the passing accuracy and the distribution skills to find wide players with long balls, often switching channels effectively.
According to David Ornstein (via The Athletic), Liverpool and Manchester United want Yoro but understand that Real could sign him. Madrid has bigger allure due to their squad strength, recent European success and knack for spending massive wages.
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Liverpool have lost many prime targets to the Spanish giants as they continue to hoard top talents despite having an already massive squad. Yoro is a fantastic player who deserves to continue his development which is quicker than Van Dijk’s.
The Liverpool captain lacked reputation and quality compared to Yoro at that particular age. If the Reds manage to sign the Frenchman, they could build him into a formidable defender with vast top-level experience even before he reaches his prime.
