The last few years has been a classic case of out with the old and in with the new at Championship table-toppers Leeds United.
Reducing the age of their squad dramatically, and moving on at last from Marcelo Bielsa’s promotion-winning heroes, Leeds United bid a fond farewell to the likes of Luke Ayling and Liam Cooper while saying hello to Jayden Bogle, Ao Tanaka and Manor Solomon
Whether Leeds’ new generation can ever ascend the same heights as their Elland Road predecessors – a a top-half finish in the Premier League feels a long way off at present – only time will tell. And that is the difficulty when it comes to transitioning from one era to another; The achievements of those who came before often do little to downplay the pressure on those replacing them.
At least, when it comes to the American national team, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino can claim that the changes he plans to make can be justified not by the successes of who came before but their failures.
Diego Luna earns first USA call-up amid Leeds United interest
The USA has long been seen as a nation with untapped potential in the realm of international soccer. They did not get out of the group stage at the 2024 Copa America prior to Pochettino’s appointment, exited the Qatar World Cup with a whimper against the Dutch, and also failed to defend their Gold Cup crown thanks to a shock semi-final defeat by Panama.
So as former PSG, Chelsea and Tottenham coach Pochettino welcomes ten uncapped players into his camp for this month’s friendly clashes with Venezuela and Costa Rica, what an opportunity this is for the likes of Patrick Agyemang, George Campbell and Diego Luna to prove that they can lead a new era as the North American World Cup looms into view.
Leeds United have been linked with Diego Luna of late. According to The Mirror, Leeds have ‘explored’ the potential of a deal, with Real Salt Lake reportedly demanding around £7 million.
Now, if the MLS Young Player of the Year award was not enough of a marker, Luna’s first and very-much deserved call-up to Pochettino’s senior USA roster is perhaps the greatest testament yet to the California-born 21-year-old’s progress.
“We are extremely excited to work with a new group of players and continue to implement our ideas,” Pochettino said this week. “As I have said, MLS is very important to the national team project, and these players have earned this opportunity.”
No one more so than Luna.
MLS starlet Diego Luna has a lot in common with Manor Solomon
Real Salt Lake’s so-called ‘Moon Boy’ exploded out of the stratosphere in 2024, providing nine goals and eight assists en route to being named the best young talent in Major League Soccer.
Given that he is also eligible to represent Mexico, the Goal website have a point when they label Luna an early ‘coup’ for the Pochettino regime. Especially after Luna opened the door to a future with El Tri a few months ago.
“Luna shined brightly for Real Salt Lake after a brilliant campaign on the wing and in the attacking midfield,” Goal write.
“Luna can play as a left winger or as an attacking midfielder, areas in which the USMNT need depth. In addition, Luna has a style that no other attacker on the USMNT offers. A proper ‘old-school’ winger, Luna is unafraid of anything on the pitch.”
Luna, MLS Soccer add, is simply ‘built differently from most other domestic players in his area of the pitch’.
Of Leeds’ current attackers, the player he arguably resembles the most is Manor Solomon. Like the silky Israeli, Luna loves nothing more than bamboozling a nearby full-back with a shake of his hips, a change of pace, or an impudent flick.
Handy, really, considering that Leeds may find themselves saying goodbye to Solomon when his loan spell from Tottenham Hotspur ends in the summer.
In the manner of Solomon, he also prefers to drift in from the left.
“He constantly finds himself taking defenders on, or trying cheeky skill moves that have disappeared from the modern game,” Goal add of Luna, something of a street football throwback in an age where wingers are often tasked with holding the width or recycling possession.
“A fantastic and tidy attacker in tight spaces, he flourishes in wide areas, or [when making] an inverted run across the 18-yard-box.”
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