Yoro tells Ferdinand why he was nicknamed after one of his Man Utd team-mates

Manchester United defender Leny Yoro was nicknamed Nani as a kid - and not just because he had the same haircut as the former Old Trafford winger.

Yoro, the French centre-back who cost United £52million in the summer when he arrived from Lille, has revealed his ambition as a boy growing up in the Parisian suburb of Alfortville was to score goals rather than prevent them.

The 19-year-old fancied himself as a flying winger in the mould of Kylian Mbappe when he was learning his trade - but his mates called him Nani.

Yoro, appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast, presented by Qatar Airways, said: “I was playing as a striker when I was really young. Like a winger. Yeah, I was quick.

“Maybe not as quick as Mbappe - but people were calling me Nani because I had the same hair - and I was fast.”

Nani, the Portuguese international who followed in Cristiano Ronaldo ’s footsteps when he moved to United from Sporting Lisbon in a £20million deal in 2007, won four Premier League titles and the Champions League in eight glorious years at Old Trafford.

Yoro hasn’t had any excuses to copy the winger’s trademark somersault goal celebration since being signed by Erik the Hag.

Injuries have made it a struggle for the teenager to bring his A-game to the United as the team inherited by new boss Ruben Amorim has continued to struggle.

His performance in the 3-1 victory over Southampton was a real test of character - but Yoro reacted by watching footage of the game so that he could learn from his mistakes.

Yoro said: “Yeah, that game was a little bit difficult. I lost a lot of one-v-ones and for the confidence it is not the best thing.

“You can’t change the past. This is the type of game that helps you grow up from experience. Because you can do good tackles, experience penalties, but you need bad things to improve your games and get experience. I think this game helped me a lot.

“I have watched the one-v-ones like, maybe, 10 times. Because I just wanted to know why I did wrong. I think this game helped me a lot to improve.”

Yoro added: “I felt pressure, man. Like, when I went anywhere, I thought everybody was talking about the price tag and expectations. But my safe place was the training ground, on the pitch.

“I come for United for a big price, so yeah, the pressure is here. People speak a lot, and today, social media is really in our lives, you know.

“Every day, you go to social media, you can see your name - for good news or sometimes for bad news. But yeah, when I go to the training ground with the team-mates, you know, I just forget everything. Just go on the pitch and train, take pleasure.

“I don't search my name on Twitter or Instagram, so I don’t even see my name on social media.

“I try not to see, even if it's good. If I see something good, of course, maybe my confidence will increase a little bit. But if I see something bad, it's just like this—I cannot change anything, so it doesn’t change a lot of my confidence.”