Real Madrid declare transfer war on PSG with Mbappe 2.0 project

Stuart Telford

• 10 Mar 2024 11:13 GMT
• 3 min read

Real Madrid are set to frustrate Paris Saint-Germain with the signing of Leny Yoro on the back of securing Kylian Mbappe's free transfer from the French champions.

Yoro has emerged as a potentially generational defensive talent, already a first choice at Lille despite his tender 18 years.

PSG and Real have both identified the French youth international as a player who could underpin their defence for the next decade, and the former would be confident of winning a bidding war.

READ MORE: Latest Real Madrid transfer rumours

But Yoro is out of contract in 2025, and Real are willing to forego a transfer fee, giving the player himself the bulk of any pay-off, as long as he agrees not to discuss terms with PSG before that point.

"Lille and its leaders are clear that if Leny Yoro is transferred next summer, his destination would never be PSG," reports Marca's Jose Felix Diaz. "The one team above all should be Real Madrid, and it is the player's desire to wear the white of Madrid.

Yoro on a free

"Real will not let Yoro escape under any circumstances, as long as the price is in accordance with the sporting and economic reality of the moment. If not, they will wait until 2025…"

Real exercised a similar philosophy with Mbappe, with the club sounding the player and his entourage out long before he became available for a Bosman transfer.

READ MORE: Real Madrid's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

It was a given for them that they expected Mbappe to spurn advances from the Premier League and Saudi Pro League, and they will now expect to do the same with outside interest in Yoro.

Yoro is valued at €21.6 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, a figure affordable for both PSG and Real, but Yoro flirting with both clubs would otherwise drive his price up.

The centre-back would join a significant French entourage at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Ferland Mendy already on their books.