Manchester United have won the race to sign Leny Yoro ahead of Spanish champions Real Madrid.
After successfully urging Kylian Mbappe to wait in 2023 and sign in 2024 on a free transfer, Real wanted Leny Yoro to sign when his contract expired in 2025.
This laid-back and over-confident transfer strategy has come back to bite them, with Manchester United nipping in to swipe Leny Yoro away.
Yoro has been undergoing a medical with Manchester United, and is set to sign a five-year contract with the Red Devils.
United’s deal has been greeted with disappointment in Spain, amid hopes Real would sign the promising 18-year-old.
Spanish press react to Leny Yoro deal
Real Madrid had been favourites to sign Leny Yoro, and there might have been an early worry they would panic and try to hijack Manchester United’s move after the club closed in on his signature.
Marca confirmed this was not the case, reporting right after hearing United had struck an agreement: “Real Madrid have almost given up on signing Leny Yoro.”
Even if they wanted to make a late play, “everything indicates that it is already too late.”
Their report relayed that Real considered the package United agreed with Lille as “excessive for a player with only one year left on his contract.”
Mundo Deportivo note that Yoro would have been Real Madrid’s ‘fourth choice’ centre-back, indicating why they would not match United’s price.
The report claims Real will now switch attention to try and sign another target – although it is unclear who, at this point.
Sport paint the picture of a more problematic situation, noting that Real’s third option, David Alaba, is currently out with a long-term injury.
Despite this, Yoro faced a battle with Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger for game time, and the outlet claim ‘those close to Yoro’ tried to explain that he would get more game time at Manchester United than Real Madrid.
United won Yoro over
Fabrizio Romano explained how United convinced Leny Yoro to forget about Real Madrid.
The Red Devils’ ‘aggressive’ pitch to land Yoro made him a central part of the team’s plans, to make him a ‘superstar’ at the club.
There is a spot in the United team following Raphael Varane’s exit, and Yoro has decided to make the move to Old Trafford.
Getting him in is a major statement from new investors Ineos, demonstrating a pulling power that was missing when the club tried to sign Jude Bellingham back in 2020.