Manchester United’s new signing Leny Yoro has been named as the Prem’s most influential player – yeah, we don’t know why either…
According to the iGaming boffins over at Betmaster, Yoro, the £52m defender who hasn’t played a single game this season due to injury, has been deemed the Premier Leagues most influential player based on ‘engagement rate.’
They examined the Instagram metrics of the 50 Premier League players with the highest market value. The French International somehow topped the list with his 830k followers. It was the engagement rate that put him top of the charts, with 50.44% of his followers liking or commenting on his posts.
Even though a player like Cole Palmer has 4.4million followers and get’s an average of just over 800k likes per post, almost as many followers as Yoro alone, the Chelsea forward only ranked 9th. This is even with his celebration going viral across social media.
The list doesn’t get anymore thrilling. Pedro Neto came up second, but it’s the Arsenal player Mikel Merino who is shockingly placed in third position.
(Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
The midfielder has made four appearances since joining the Gunners this year and has no goals or assists. He has started one game, however, this was the 2-0 loss to Bournemouth most recently.
“Engagement rates offer a unique glimpse into a player’s genuine popularity and reach,” said James Loxdale, Sports Analyst at Betmaster Ireland. “As the season unfolds, it will be fascinating to see how online engagement can correlate with on-field success and future opportunities.
So far, online engagement has not proven to correlate with on-field success. If anything, the lower down the top 10 list, the better the player. The bottom four contain Ollie Watkins at 7th above Micky van de Ven, Palmer, and William Saliba at the bottom of the top 10 list.
(Image: No credit)
While it is fascinating to see Yoro crowned as the most influential player off the pitch, it’s fair to say that it probably isn’t the case.
An actual answer could be Bukayo Saka or Mohamed Salah, two players who are known to donate to and support many charities while also being two of the best players in the league season after season.