Regardless of whether a switch to Leeds United appeals, speculation linking the country’s best young player with a switch to the Championship leaders is hardly playing on the minds of his current employers.
Or, at least, it doesn’t seem to be.
Because while Leeds have explored a potential deal for Diego Luna – the Real Salt Lake sensation and newly-crowned Major League Soccer Young Player of the Year – all the noises coming out of the American First Field outfit is that 2025 will be the year he establishes himself as one of the greatest talents on the other side of the Atlantic, rather than the one in which he packs his bags in pursuit of a new adventure.
Still only 21, the highly-versatile Luna scored nine goals and set up eight more for Real Salt Lake in 2024. The Mirror reports that his dazzling displays have caught the eye of Leeds United, too.
But as far as Claret and Cobalt coach Pablo Mastroeni is concerned, the focus is not on selling and replacing Diego Luna but helping the youngster take his game to an all-new level before the seemingly inevitable switch to European football.
Leeds United’s Diego Luna links played down at Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake are in the market for a new striker after losing Cristian ‘Chico’ Arango to San Jose Earthquakes.
But Mastroeni believes a change in the centre-forward role – Real are looking to bring in more of a facilitator profile who will open up spaces for Luna to wreak havoc – could see their talismanic number eight reach double figures for both goals and assists in the coming campaign.
“Chicho did a really good job of finding gaps to score goals but, at times, operated outside the game model,” Mastroeni explains.
“How do we get Diego more productive? The best way to explain that is [by] having a striker occupying centre-backs, playing the highest line, [ensuring] there is never a ball that goes behind the defence that is never [chased down].
“There was a lot of times last season where we didn’t have guys crashing the box.”
Whether Leeds really need Luna in the January window – or whether they really want him in the January window – is up for debate.
Perhaps Leeds see Diego Luna as a potential Manor Solomon replacement. One to be pursued when the Israel international’s loan spell from Tottenham Hotspur comes to an end. Luna likes to drift in from the left-hand side onto his right foot in a manner reminiscent of Solomon, after all.
In the meantime, Maestroni believes that Diego Luna will benefit from being included in Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT plans too. The winger has been picked by the former Chelsea, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss for the latest international meet-up.
Diego Luna backed to become a leader at the MLS outfit
“The reason why Diego has been able to, at such a young age, deliver the way he has has been because he has been able to be himself,” Maestroni argues. “It is very difficult for young players to understand that, while we create the environment and we have great coaches, the onus is on the individual to take the next steps every day.
“And Diego is one guy who is dialled into every video session. He stays and does his work after the [training] session. From a leadership standpoint, I think thats the next bit.
“Having gone to the January [US national team] camp last year, he was kind of a bit shocked. This year it was like ‘I am deserving of it’.
“My expectation is that he bring that leadership from the second national camp and becomes a leader in his own right. We need to bring that out because he is a fantastic leader of himself and, now, how does he bring players to a similar type of level?”
The final word goes to Kurt Schmid, Real Salt Lake’s technical director.
He appears to be on the same page as his head coach, insisting that the plan is for Diego Luna to develop and improve further both as a player and a man. A move to Leeds United, or anywhere else for that matter, can wait.
“Diego has really stepped up in 2024,” Schmid says. “And we are looking for him to do it again in 2025.”
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