Diego Leon, the 19-year-old left-back signed for up to £7million, played his first minutes under Michael Carrick on Friday in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Lausanne-Sport, which a makeshift United side won 2-1.
Carrick fielded a mix-and-match group for the game, with many first-team stars on international duty and several of the best academy prospects also away playing age-group games for their countries. That presented chances for some players, and Leon came from nowhere to feature at left-back.
A rare opportunity in a depleted squad
With Harry Amass away on England duty and Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui on senior international duty, Leon got a chance at left-back against Lausanne-Sport. It was a rare chance for the Paraguayan to impress at United.
There was plenty of excitement around Leon when he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2025, with the deal having been agreed six months earlier. Arsenal and Manchester City were also keen.
High hopes after a tough first season
Leon had played 33 first-team games for Club Cerro Porteno before turning 18, a significant amount of experience for a young defender, and his rapid speed and bravery going forward marked him as one of the most thrilling young prospects. There are still high hopes for him in his home country, and he was part of the provisional Paraguay squad for the World Cup this summer before failing to make the final 26, which was understandable given his struggles at United.
Leon was unveiled at Old Trafford alongside Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko last season, and a fee of £3.3million, potentially rising to £7million, showed this was a signing made with a view to the youngster cracking the first team. That looked plausible when he made matchday squads against Manchester City, Brentford and Sunderland between September and October, as well as being on the bench for the EFL Cup defeat at Grimsby, but he then vanished from view and didn't make the first-team squad for the remainder of the season.
Path back through the Under-21s
Leon went on to make 17 starts for the Under-21s, as well as playing two EFL Trophy games, but he was barely glimpsed in pre-season this summer as Harry Amass stepped up to compete with Luke Shaw, having returned from two loans in the Championship last season. Amass could have left United on a permanent deal in the final days of the transfer window, but the 19-year-old remained at the club after Burnley decided against raising their offer of £3.5million.
The England Under-20 international has had first-team minutes against Sabah this season but doesn't look like he is considered a long-term solution to Shaw. Despite that, Amass is starting ahead of Leon for the Under-21s, and the Paraguayan hasn't played a single minute in three Premier League 2 games this season.
Whether he did enough to impress Carrick remains to be seen. Leon has shown potential at academy level but remains raw, and his first challenge has to be to get more regular minutes for the Under-21s, but impressing the first-team boss won't do any harm, and his chance in Friday's friendly, as well as training at Carrington, is an opportunity he could do with taking.
