This 18 year old relatively unknown Paraguayan has all of a sudden become the greatest left-back in football simply because he signed for Man Utd.
It's what we do 🤷♂️.
Okay, maybe best left-back in the world is a bit over the top but more people have certainly taken notice of this Diego Leon, myself included.
There isn't much to go on about him because he's young and up-and-coming but I'll give you what I can.
History
Diego Leon is an 18 year old Paraguayan footballer who was signed from Club Cerro Porteno in December last year and remained at the club until now.
He started his career playing for their U14s before making his first team debut in August last year in which he scored the only goal to give his side the 1-0 win over Sportivo Ameliano.
At international level, he's played for his country's U20s side on 9 occasions scoring just the 1 goal.
Play style
Well he isn't the tallest for one as he stands at 5'9" meaning he won't be that strong in the air. That can be an issue as you know how good your aerial ability has to be when playing in England and Europe.
When looking at his build, he does seem to have a solid physique, one that is very stocky and strong similarly to Lisandro Martinez, a fellow South American.
While on this subject, Leon will have quite a few teammates from South America who will no doubt try to make him feel as comfortable as possible.
You could say that the 18 year old is more of a traditional left-back which isn't actually what Ruben Amorim would want as he plays with wing-backs, preferrably those who are wingers who can defend rather than the other way round
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Strengths
In terms of his best abilities, Leon is known for being quite attacking.
In the Paraguayan first division, Leon ranks in the 75th percentile for progressive runs and ranks 3rd for touches in the box compared to other full-backs in the division. He's also first in the league for crosses which is something that he does regularly as he gets up and down the pitch.
While he is better as a left-back, he can do a job as a left wing-back which shows some versatility. There are occasions when he drops into midfield to do a bit of an inverted role which pairs well with today's modern style of football although isn't something that Amorim implements too often with his wing-backs.
As a defender, he is quite aggressive. Leon ranked in the 88th percentile for defensive duels and due to him being quite physical and someone who likes to play on the front-foot, he wins a good amount of tackles.
The youngster had an 81% pass accuracy and can create chances. He also displays a bit of composure in possession.
Weaknesses
While he isn't a bad defender, his positioning can be questionable. This could be a cause of his aggressiveness and willingness to win the ball back which could leave his position vacant.
United also have their troubles in those wider defensive positions as we often fall asleep at the back post. This is an issue that has been present for quite some time and to have another player come in and potentially have the same weakness, isn't ideal.
His major area to be concerned with though, is his inexperience.
At 18 and just breaking through in the Paraguayan league, there isn't much to go of off and with youngsters, you are always going to get these inconsistencies which can test your patience.
Tactical fit
I actually think Leon has a decent shout of being in this United side on a regular basis.
While we have options in the left-back/left wing-back positions, no one has it nailed down. Patrick Dorgu at the moment seems to be the one who will start in that role but it isn't definitive. The Dane himself is young and developmental albeit with a little more experience than Leon.
Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot are more than capable of doing a job as the LWB but it isn't their preferred position.
Luke Shaw is somehow still at the club but given his unreliability due to injuries, he isn't a player we can trust even if he actually ticks all the boxes of what's needed.
I'm not sure what's going to happen with Tyrell Malacia. I don't know if he was ever good enough to begin with.
Harry Amass is another although he doesn't seem to be too favored by Amorim and is 18 year old himself.
This gives our new 18 year old Paraguayan a chance.
You saw his confidence with that comment ("Everyone thinks I'll go out on loan, but I don't have that mindset. I'm going to kill it in pre-season and within one or two games, I'll already be playing with them.") about wanting to hit the ground running as he isn't here just for the experience.
If Leon can maintan this confidence, then he can surely push for a place in the starting XI. With his playing style, it also means that he is somewhat suitable to what Amorim wants from his wing-back even if Leon isn't the finished article with several areas that need improving.
However, as the manager is known for developing young talent, perhaps this could be a match made in heaven?
Final Thoughts
Ngl, I'm not super excited by this signing and player. I am happy to see a young talent such as Leon join the club and I'm happy that United are beginning to find such talents from around the world as this wasn't something we did before.
This is probably the work of the Director of Recruitment Christopher Vivell who has a reputation of finding young talents from around the globe.
It's also something that we all admired about other clubs as how do they find top young players like this? A club like United would then swoop in and sign them from the Southamptons or Brightons, for a pretty price. Now we have them at our club which is a positive.
They're also random players that we never heard of until the links to United. In years gone by, it was always the big name shirtsellers that would come to Old Trafford. I like their anonymity and the fact that they don't just come from Europe, which was also a problem of ours.
Diego Leon is a player that no doubt has quality too, as we can see. There is also a confidence there that isn't something you see from most players at 18.
More than anything, United were/are in need of players with such strong mentalities and the right character. For too long, we've brought in players or developed ones with the wrong personality which resulted in wasted talent.
Having the right mentalities will help the team more than a player who is simply a quality footballer. We don't need anymore more of these 'head droppers' in the tough moments.
Leon appears to be one such player and with his abilities as a player, we might have a top footballer on our hands.
Let's see how he performs in pre-season and whether he keeps true to his word and makes it into the first team. It isn't perfect if we do have such a raw and young player in the first team but if he shows the qualities we need, we may as well give him a shot as there aren't many other better options.
This could be a problem because not many youngsters start off and continue like a house on fire. They all have their issues as we've seen with Dorgu and many people are impatient with him.
But let's see with the new Paraguayan.
Diego Leon, welcome to Manchester United 🤝.