Diego Leon arrived at Man Utd last summer, but he was not handed his senior debut during his first season at the club.
Diego Leon will feature for Manchester United in pre-season before a decision is made on his next steps. Last summer, United signed Leon for £3.3million fee, rising to £7m with add-ons, from Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno.
Leon was unveiled alongside Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko at Old Trafford before the final pre-season game, but he played exclusively in academy fixtures this term.
Ruben Amorim included Leon in four matchday squads at the start of the campaign. However, after October, the 19-year-old did not make the bench for a first-team game for the remainder of the campaign.
United decided to keep Leon with the Under-21s to give him time to improve different areas of his game. He will now get a chance to show what he can do in pre-season before a plan is formed for him next season.
Leon was challenged by U21 fixtures this term, so leaving on loan in the January transfer window was not realistic, but doing so in 2026/2027 would be the logical next step for his development.
United have 12 players representing their respective nations at the World Cup. In their absence, pre-season will be an opportunity for several young players to impress Michael Carrick.
Travis Binnion is now a permanent member of Carrick’s backroom staff, but he managed the U21s before being promoted to the first team following the reshuffle after Amorim’s sacking.
Binnion spoke about Leon to the Manchester Evening News in November, saying: “It is evident for all to see he has some real qualities and some strong foundations to his game that he has to build on.
“He is aware, we are all aware, he has stuff to work on but, to be fair to the kid, he has not played a full 90 minutes yet. We will be looking to tick that off pretty soon and that will be really good for him.
“If he can get a run of 90 minutes, then it is fair to look at his game and see where he is at. At this moment in time, he has shown real glimpses of promise and has fitted in with the group really well.”
Leon received his first senior call-up to represent Paraguay’s national team this season. He was handed his Paraguay debut, a cameo from the bench, in a friendly against South Korea in October, but is not part of his nation’s World Cup squad.
United signed Leon from South America because they believed he had first-team potential.
