Man Utd’s new £59m signing Leny Yoro to miss start of season with fractured metatarsal

Manchester United have been dealt a huge blow with new £59 million signing Leny Yoro facing the prospect of around two months out with a fractured metatarsal.

The France Under-21 centre-half was forced off just 33 minutes into United’s 2-1 defeat by Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium in the early hours on Sunday in only his second appearance since his big money move from Lille.

Scans have since revealed United’s worst fears with Yoro having suffered a broken metatarsal that could sideline him for the first two months of the new season and increase the pressure on the club to bring in another centre-back before the close of the window on August 30.

Yoro, 18, was pictured on Tuesday leaving UCLA, United’s training base on their pre-season tour of the US, on crutches with his left foot in a protective boot with bandaging to just below the knee.

A two-month layoff would rule out Yoro until the end of September and see him miss United’s first six Premier League matches and the Community Shield against Manchester City.

United were decimated by injuries last season and Ten Hag will hope Yoro’s issue is not a sign of more problems to come. It remains to be seen if Yoro remains with the squad on their tour of the US or flies home to the UK for further assessment and treatment. United are due to play Real Betis at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego in the early hours on Thursday.

Even before the news of Yoro’s injury, United had been keen to sign another central defender this summer and could now be forced to accelerate those plans.

United have the makings of a deal in place with Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt if they want to pursue it and have had two bids rejected for the Everton and England centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite.

Everton have been insistent Branthwaite will not leave for less than £75m, which is about £20m higher than United have shown a willingness to pay. United’s second bid for Branthwaite was worth £45m plus £5m in add ons.

United have been looking to offload Victor Lindelof but it remains to be seen what impact Yoro’s injury has on the Swede’s future at Old Trafford. A minor injury has prevented Lindelof from playing a game in pre-season yet but he has now returned to training.

Yoro looked in visible discomfort as he hobbled off against Arsenal and was consoled by United defender Harry Maguire before leaving the pitch. Rasmus Hojlund was also forced off against Arsenal with a hamstring injury with Ten Hag likely to update on the Denmark striker’s fitness on Thursday.