Liverpool and Real Madrid Target Leny Yoro Agrees Man United Transfer

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Manchester United appear shock winners of the Leny Yoro chase, beating Liverpool and favourites Real Madrid to land the Lille centre half.

Lille 18-year-old French centre half Leny Yoro has been perhaps the most sought after rising star signing of the summer transfer window, and with just a year left on his contract with the Ligue 1 side, Real Madrid had been heavy favourites to sign him.

In England, meanwhile, Liverpool sent early signals of interest but backed away when it appeared the young defender only had eyes for Spain. That interest didn’t stop Manchester United from pressing the issue, though, and today they appear shock winners of the race to sign Yoro.

They appear to have managed to do so by wildly eclipsing what Madrid—and Liverpool—were willing to pay for a young player heading into the final year of his contract, reportedly offering Lille an eye-watering €62M up front plus unspecified add-ons.

For an 18-year-old with one full senior season in France under his belt it’s a gargantuan sum, particularly taking into account his contract status, but as Yoro would certainly have joined Madrid next summer on a free transfer should no deal have been done it appears United were willing to pay over the odds to get him now.

For their part, speculation has Madrid unwilling to pay more than around half of the fee United are now sending Lille’s way. What Liverpool might have been willing to go to in order to get the drop on Madrid is unknown, but clearly didn’t extend to €62M.

United and their fans will be expected to celebrate a win in the transfer market today, beating not just Madrid to a player who was desperate to sign him but also historic rivals Liverpool, but by any reasonable metric they have committed to a quite significant overpay to do so.

As with the transfer fee for Lille, it’s believed wages significantly beyond what the other clubs would have been willing to offer also played a role in swaying the player. Whether the move will be in his long-term interest on the pitch remains to be seen.