Remember the name! Leny Yoro turns 18 today, but he's been turning heads of big clubs for quite a while

LOSC Lille often have gems on their hands. Let's just name a few players who played at Stade Pierre Mauroy recently: Eden Hazard, Rafael Leao, Mike Maignan, Sven Botman, Lucas Digne, Yves Bissouma, Victor Osimhen, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang... the list goes on. And the latest name we should take note of is Leny Yoro.

The promising centre-back, who turns 18 today, is making waves in French football and has already earned a regular starting spot for the team with aspirations of competing at the top of Ligue 1. His defensive prowess has been on the radar of big clubs like Liverpool already, but Yoro also has a beautiful knack for scoring goals. Earlier in the season, he scored a lovely volley at Stade Rennais and last weekend he found the net with a towering header against Toulouse.

Despite his youth, Yoro's maturity and personality have impressed Lille's head coach, Paulo Fonseca, who predicts a bright future for the teenager. World Cup winner Samuel Umtiti, Yoro's teammate at Lille, acknowledges his potential but urges caution, emphasizing the need for continued improvement through hard work.

Data analytics experts SciSports ranked Yoro as one of the most promising CBs in the world, comparing his playing style to fellow Frenchman William Saliba. Yoro's technical qualities and passing range make him a complete package - he's a prototype of a modern centre-back.

While several top clubs across Europe closely monitor the boy's progress at Lille, SciSports suggests potential moves to Napoli, Brighton, Benfica, and Borussia Dortmund, renowned for nurturing young talent. An intriguing option, however, is Liverpool, where Yoro could be groomed as a successor to Virgil van Dijk because of the similarity in their passing game. Real Madrid were apparently watching him before the start of the season. But for now, the Ivorian son seems closer to Paris Saint-Germain. The Ligue 1 holders are already considering a move in January.

Before any transfer activity happens, Yoro will work on his game. On Sunday, he scored his second goal of the campaign. However, he picked up an injury just after the break and was replaced by none other than the 2018 World Cup winner Umtiti. Later in the game, Toulouse sneaked a goal despite being inferior for most of the match, so it ended in a 1-1 draw.

Yoro's injury isn't too bad, but it will keep him out of the upcoming France-U21 games against Austria and South Korea. But it looks only a minor setback in a career destined to lift off into the stratosphere.