Could Diego Léon be the answer to Manchester United’s left-back problem?

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Manchester United were linked to left backs all summer due to their weakness in this area of the squad.

Left back situation

Lewis Hall was one player the club were very keen on, but it seems he may be signing a new deal at Newcastle United.

The Red Devils were also linked to deadline day moves for Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nicolas Tagliafico.

Nonetheless, United decided to stand pat and are content to choose between Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu, and perhaps Harry Amass as senior options.

Where is Diego Leon?

In the summer of 2025, United brought in a left back from Paraguay to bolster their youth ranks.

He started very well, scoring an incredible solo goal versus Tottenham Hotspur for the academy and also made some first team benches under Ruben Amorim.

In addition, during this time, he was called up to the Paraguay national side, making his debut versus South Korea from the bench.

However, since the turn of the year, Leon has somewhat disappeared off the map for United.

Struggles

Leon continued to play regular minutes for the under-21s until March, but was nowhere to be seen around United’s first team squad.

In fact, he played 90 minutes of United’s 1-0 win over Reading under-21s on 20th March and only played once more all season: 63 minutes in the 0-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion under-21s in May.

Leon’s biggest issue so far is that he has not been able to stand out that much at academy level, never mind in a first team context.

Sources close to the club state that he requires more tactical discipline, intensity, and that he needs to come to terms with the physical aspect of the English game.

As a result, it was thought that Leon might be given the chance to go out on loan, with his agent stating that this may have been the case last month.

Renato Bittar, his agent, admitted that the 19-year-old’s future is still unclear, but no move transpired in the final week of the window.

Is there a first team path?

With Shaw, Dorgu, and Amass ahead of Leon, a first team role looks unlikely. In addition, it seems that Michael Carrick would most likely play Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot at left back rather than trust the young Paraguayan.

It was even suggested in the media that United might consider new signing Carlos Baleba or centre back Lisandro Martinez as emergency options.

Therefore, it seems Leon’s major task is to even try to re-establish himself as a realistic starting option in the academy.

Bendito Mankato looks ahead of him in the under-21s, and Albert Mills was on the bench instead of him in the academy’s last match. This is far from ideal for the Paraguay international.

Final thoughts

A January loan may be the best option for Leon to get some valuable senior minutes, because he seems light years away from a first team showing at United. In fact, he has a lot of work to do to even be considered at under-21 level.