Man Utd & Chelsea dealt crushing blow in pursuit of €100m wonderkid named 'next Varane'

Cameron Smith

• 17 Mar 2024 19:16 GMT
• 3 min read

Leny Yoro has reportedly informed Lille that he would like to join Real Madrid this summer amid heavy transfer interest from Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 18-year-old has emerged as one of Europe’s most promising young defenders this season and he is expected to make a big-money move at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

PSG are unsurprisingly interested, given their history of poaching Ligue 1’s best talents, while Chelsea and Man Utd both view Yoro as the ideal long-term centre-back. The Blues even see the Lille wonderkid as a possible replacement for Thiago Silva, as per The Evening Standard.

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However, according to Marca, Yoro has informed Lille of his desire to play for Real Madrid. Los Blancos have also expressed their desire to sign the teenager in recent months and he is one of their primary summer transfer targets, along with Kylian Mbappe and Alphonso Davies.

The French wonderkid could cost as much as €100m, as per the Spanish outlet, but he has seemingly communicated his desire to follow in Raphael Varane’s footsteps and leave France to join Real Madrid as a teenager.

Varane signed for Los Blancos from Lens back in 2011 and Yoro has been likened to the Man Utd star over the past few months.

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What has Fabrizio Romano said about Leny Yoro?

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano recently discussed Yoro’s future to CaughtOffside and admitted: “Leny Yoro is one of the most exciting talents who could be on the market this summer, and there have been fresh stories about Man Utd trying to win the race for the young Lille defender’s signature.

“For now, my understanding is that there will be many clubs in the race. For sure Real Madrid are there, same for Paris Saint-Germain. Man United have sent scouts to follow him but at the moment, no more movement as [they are] still waiting for [the] new board to decide [on] summer transfer window plans.

“It’s also important to note that Yoro will not be cheap for sure, but the final price is not clear yet as Lille president Olivier Letang will decide that around May.”