ONE YEAR ago Diego Leon was barely a household name in his own home.
He was a 17-year-old left back from Paraguay, making his way through the youth ranks of Cerro Porteno, one of the South American country’s traditional big two clubs.
At the start of last August he was suddenly promoted to the first team.
At the time Cerro were being coached by Manolo Jimenez, a Sevilla legend and a former left back for Spain.
He checked out the club’s academy, liked what he saw and put teenage Leon straight into the first team.
And in his debut Leon scored the only goal of the game against Sport Ameliano.
A star was born, and within a few short weeks the player was already being linked with Premier League giants.
It seems that there was interest from Arsenal, but come the end of the year Manchester United had swooped.
Leon had to stay in Paraguay until the summer transfer window- he only turned 18 in April – but now he is on his way across the Atlantic.
So what are United getting?
Manolo Jimenez recalled: “I saw his strength and quality and threw him into the first team.
“Physically he’s a prodigy. He has incredible potential, with a strong attacking game and the capacity to score goals.”
Most of his first team football has been played at left back, although – good news for United fans – he might be even happier operating as a left wing back.
He can rumble forward effectively, curling dangerous crosses into the box, and can also cut in diagonally towards goal.
Jimenez would be the first to admit that the defensive side of Leon’s game needs plenty of work – perhaps unsurprising for a youngster who holds the adventurous former Real Madrid star Marcelo as his role model.
Last year he scored one of the all time great own goals, lobbing his own keeper from twenty five yards to hand the three points to Sportivo Luqueno.
But this can be written off as an occupational hazard, and also serves to show how well he can strike the ball.
How soon, then, before he can be expected to make an impact at Old Trafford? It might take a while, not least because the United coaching staff will need to improve his defending.
It is also worth noting how young he is and how little football he has behind him – and also how, after Jimenez moved on, he slipped a little bit back down the pecking order.
Argentine boss Diego Martinez selected Leon for most of Cerro Porteno’s league games this year.
But the main event for the club is the Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League. Cerro Porteno have never won it.
Neighbours and rivals Olimpia have three titles to their name. This hurts. Continental glory, then, is an obsession for Cerro.
They fought their way through to this year’s knock out rounds, which kick off in August. But Leon made little contribution.
He played in one of the group games, and was an unused substitute for the other five.
And he hardly featured in the two big derby games against Olimpia, coming off the bench for one and not getting on the field for the other.
The implication is clear. Diego Leon was seen by Cerro Porteno as a highly promising work in progress, but not necessarily ready to be trusted in the matches that really matter.
His next task, then, is a daunting one.
The teenage Paraguayan has to make the leap between promise and reality while finding his feet under the microscope at the Theatre of Dreams.
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