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Man United defender Leny Yoro hails influence of senior team-mate who has helped star navigate turbulent season

  /  autty

Leny Yoro is eager to see Manchester United hand Harry Maguire a new deal having been taken under his team-mate's wing this season.

Yoro has had a turbulent campaign where he has found himself coming in and out of the side, playing just one minute through Michael Carrick's first four games in charge.

Former boss Ruben Amorim suggested the 20-year-old 'thinks too much' about mistakes as he continues his maturation as a Premier League player under the brightest spotlight.

But having Maguire help mentor him day in, day out, Yoro has found a groove that suggests he can go on to be one of the central pieces in United's side next season after playing the full 90 minutes in each of his side's last four games.

'I think every player has this phase in a season,' Yoro explained.

'Sometimes you have bad moments, bad performances, and I'm happy to do good games now, to rebound well, so I'm just happy with the result.'

Pressed on just how helpful Maguire, who is out of contract this summer and yet to sign a new deal to stay, has been for him, Yoro added: 'With all the experiences he has he gave me a lot of tips.

'He spoke to me a lot on the pitch, so this helped me a lot.

'He always speaks with me, like [dealing with] the striker, sometimes he speaks before the game, or at half-time, about positioning as well, so playing with him is really good for me.'

In Yoro's eyes, keeping Maguire is of critical importance.

United are in discussions about keeping the English centre back, albeit on discounted terms as they look to reduce the wage bill.

'Yeah, of course, having Harry in the team is good for us,' he said.

'If he can stay next season, it's really good for us. So I hope he's going to extend his contract and he can stay with us. We'll see, we'll see anyway.'

Along with Maguire, the mid-season arrival of Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans on the coaching staff, two ex-pros who played centre back at the very highest level, have been immense for Yoro's development.

'I work a lot on videos, a lot of stuff on the pitch about the opponent, so they know the work they're doing [coaching staff], this helped me,' Yoro said.

'I'm just listening and working. We speak a lot with them, do a lot of extra work, you know?

'They explain a lot of things to us, and having them as part of the team is just a plus for us. It helps us every day to improve.

'I know I'm really young, I have a lot of things to improve, so they helped me to find that, to work every day on what I have to improve.

'[Evans and Woodgate] speak a lot with me about, not just about football, but about outside football also, because for a young player it's important to be good outside football, so they know I have a lot to improve and they helped me a lot with this.

'I think when the player comes to the Prem, they know physicality will be hard so my body is still growing and I have to deal with that.

'I've also got H [Harry Maguire], like I said, to help me with that on the pitch, so I have to deal with that, yeah.'