As all eyes were on Manchester United summer signing Matheus Cunha in their pre-season opener, another new transfer took the attention from fans instead.
Cunha arrived from Wolves at the start of the transfer window to bolster Ruben Amorim's toothless attack, with Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo likely to follow him after a reported breakthrough in talks this week.
Amorim must improve United's forward line after last season's awful 15th-placed finish, while five first team players have told the club they want to leave - including Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony. Rashford is said to be close to a surprise loan move to Barcelona according to reports on Saturday, making Mbeumo's arrival more important for Amorim's squad this season.
At the same time as the Rashford reports emerged, United kicked off their pre-season fixtures in Sweden as they took on newly-promoted Leeds at the Strawberry Arena, Stockholm.
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In the build-up, it was reported that Amorim will be able to call upon another summer signing, Diego Leon, after it was decided not to send him out on loan as planned.
Leon arrived from Cerro Porteno as a prospect for the future, but will now be given the chance to earn a first team squad place for the coming season.
He made his debut against Leeds and fans were quickly impressed by the teenager, with a series of impresses statistics emerging from his first half display.
As highlighted by Statman Dave on X, Leon recorded a 100 per cent long ball accuracy, winning every tackle he attempted and had an 80 per cent pass accuracy from just 29 touches. Within that, he created two chances, recovered the ball three times, had two attempts on goal and two take-ons against his opponents.
Leon was replaced at the break with the scores level at 0-0, with neither side able to score a winner in the second half as the friendly ended goalless.
Yet fans were suitably impressed with Leon and called for him to get more opportunities in the coming pre-season fixtures when United fly to the USA.
One fan said: "Honestly can't wait to see more of him, he looks hungry." Another added: "Composed, progressive, and mature beyond his age. Diego León looks like a serious talent — efficient on the ball and confident under pressure. One to watch."
Others pointed out that Leon still has plenty to improve upon as they praised his replacement Patrick Dorgu, yet he was still hailed as 'fantastic', 'solid' and 'excellent' by fans on social media as they raved over one particular piece of impressive control and composure under pressure.
Roberto Rojas on X summed up the debut by saying: "Decent debut for Diego León as a Manchester United player. Obviously the first game jitters will always be made apparent hence a bit of ball-watching & lost possession. But demonstrated he can work tactically. Few little tweaks and perhaps he can be trusted long-term."
Topics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Ruben Amorim, Leeds United
Joe Bray