Leny Yoro brought up a half-century of Manchester United appearances recently, becoming the youngest defender to play that many games for the club since Phil Jones in 2013.

That was not an insignificant landmark.

Yoro only turned 20 last month. It is a little over a year since his debut, which was delayed until early last December by a fractured metatarsal picked up in pre-season, but he has missed just seven games since.

Making his 50th club appearance — in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa last weekend — was a milestone, achieved in a relatively short space of time since signing for an initial €62million (then £52m; $67.9m) from Lille in his French homeland. Yet it also demonstrated that, like any young defender, he still has plenty of areas to improve.

Yoro was at the scene of the crime for both Villa’s goals that day, failing to put pressure on Morgan Rogers and showing him inside too easily for the first. Though not solely to blame for the second, he again could not prevent Rogers cutting in on his right foot to sweep a shot home.

Maybe it should not have been a surprise to see him left out of the starting line-up for Friday’s eventual 1-0 home win against Newcastle United, then. After all, it was not the first time Yoro had been named among the substitutes by head coach Ruben Amorim this season. In fact, it was the seventh.

Leny Yoro replaces Casemiro against Newcastle United (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Yoro was not on the bench as often last season. He was starting consistently for its final four months, only sitting out here or there due to illness, injury or the Europa League being prioritised. Every effort was made to get him fit to start that competition’s final, despite him carrying a foot problem, though he could not prevent a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in the Spanish city of Bilbao.

This time, however, he has become more of a rotational piece than a regular. And at times, such as when giving away a penalty at Crystal Palace a month ago and then appearing upset at being brought off early in the second half of that game, a spell out of the starting line-up has only looked sensible.

Amorim said later that week that Yoro can be guilty of overthinking.

“He makes a mistake, and then he struggles,” Amorim told reporters. “He wants to do everything so well. He’s growing, in a moment where everyone here is growing, with games and with setbacks, it’s not easy for him as a young guy.