Manchester United star backed to become the 'next William Saliba'

United are enduring another dismal season, currently sitting just 14th in the Premier League table, a staggering 33 points behind Liverpool.

Good news has been few and far between for the Manchester giants but Silvestre believes his former club at least have a player who can become one of the best in his field.

Manchester United made Leny Yoro the most expensive player aged 18 or younger and one of the most expensive centre-backs in history when they spent over £50m to sign him from Lille last summer.

Yoro only had one full season at the Ligue 1 side but attracted interest from Liverpool and Real Madrid as well as United.

The 19-year-old missed the first four months of the season after picking up an injury in pre-season but has begun to feature heavily for the Red Devils since December.

Silvestre reckons Yoro can be a ‘major force at Manchester United in the coming years’ and emulate Arsenal defender Saliba, who has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world at the Emirates Stadium.

‘From his time in Lille, we’ve seen that he’s athletically dominant, he makes the right calls when recovering the ball and has good timing,’ Silvestre told the Daily Mirror.

‘It’s unfortunate that he got injured early in pre-season because I think he will be a major force at United in the coming years.

‘He still has some things that he can learn, of course, he is not the finished article, but he’s got so much potential. When you look at [William] Saliba and [Ibrahima] Konate for France, for me he is next in line.’

Earlier in the season, Rio Ferdinand backed Saliba to become the best defender in world football within three years but insisted Yoro could challenge the Arsenal star for that title.

‘I think he’s [Saliba] going to be the best defender in the world,’ Ferdinand said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

‘Saliba will be the best defender in the world when Virgil van Dijk gives up that post.

‘As soon as that happens, it could be in a year, it could be three years. Whenever it’s going to be I don’t see anyone else taking over.

‘The only person I see, the person who I think will rival him and it will be close is Leny Yoro.

‘To be injured and to come in and it’s not even do quite well… he got in two situations one vs one on the edge of the box on his own and dealt with them both really well.

‘To go back to Saliba, he looks imposing. Rasmus Hojlund is probably still trying to fight his way out of his pocket now. It was like a man against a boy.’

Despite their dismal Premier League form, Manchester United are still alive in the FA Cup and face Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.