Chelsea target adds Van Dijk quality to his game
Robin Bairner
- 10 Nov 2023 04:36 CST
- 3 min read
Chelsea have been closely linked with a move for Lille centre-back Leny Yoro, who continued to enhance his reputation during his side’s UEFA Europa Conference League encounter against Slovan Bratislava on Thursday.
Lille were only able to draw the match 1-1 in Slovakia, with former Man Utd youngster Angel Gomes’ opener after 52 minutes cancelled out by a late strike by Aleksandar Cavric.
By the time the hosts drew level, though, the 17-year-old Yoro had departed the field, having once again made a positive impression for Paulo Fonseca’s side.
MORE: The next Van Dijk or Saliba? Lille teen Leny Yoro is a star in the making
L’Equipe rated the teenager at 7/10 to give him the Man of the Match award and heaped praise upon his performance.
“Whether it’s at the Velodrome or in Bratislava, he has confirmed his role as a pillar of the team. He has added some long passes to his game, which will be useful to his future arsenal. Otherwise, he has been solid and serene before going off. Without surprise, the defence was not the same afterwards,” the sports paper said.
Remarkably, Yoro has already become a leader of a defence that includes a World Cup winner in the form of Samuel Umtiti beside him, and though the former Barcelona man has struggled through injury in recent seasons, it still speaks volumes of the youngster’s qualities.
It is easy to see why Chelsea are interested.
Yoro adding to his game all the time
But what was most interesting about his performance in Slovakia was the development of his long passing, which is a talent used by some of the greatest centre-backs in the modern era to unpick defences and spring quick attacks. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk at his peak was arguably the best in the world at it.
Chelsea will certainly have taken notice of this development in Yoro, who recently joined Jorge Mendes’ stable of players at Polaris Sports, which looks after Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho and Warren Zaire-Emery among others.
Within hours of Yoro signing under Mendes’ wing, a rumour broke that PSG are interested in him, suggesting Chelsea could have their work cut out to land one of the world’s most promising defenders.
