Manchester United make £51m transfer offer for Lille wonderkid Leny Yoro

Manchester United have launched an audacious offer to sign Lille defender Leny Yoro this summer.

Yoro has established himself as one of the most promising young centre-backs in European football after breaking into Lille’s first-team at the age of just 16 in 2022.

The Frenchman, now aged 18, played a key role for Lille this season as the club sealed Champions League qualification with the third-best defensive record in Ligue 1, a tally bettered only by PSG and Nice.

He also caught the eye across Lille’s Europa Conference League campaign before Paulo Fonseca’s side were knocked out by Aston Villa on penalties in the quarter-finals of the competition.

However, speculation has been mounting that Yoro could be set for bigger and better things next season, with a host of Europe’s elite clubs rumoured to be queueing up for his signature.

While Real Madrid have been in contact with Yoro’s entourage for some time, Marca suggest Manchester United have ‘moved quickly’ and stolen a march with a proposal ‘above the market’ for the centre-half, believed to be in the region of €60m (£51m).

It comes amid reports Yoro and his team spoke to United bosses at Wembley, where the youngster was in attendance for Real Madrid’s Champions League final triumph over Borussia Dortmund last weekend.

Madrid have made no secret of their interest in Yoro and have urged the player and his representative – super-agent Jorge Mendes – to wait for their call while they finalise their plans for the summer transfer window.

The report claims that Yoro has ‘always conveyed’ his desire to play at the Bernabeu, but the France Under-23 international may have to accept that Madrid will not match United from a purely financial perspective.

The newly crowned Champions League and La Liga winners view Yoro as a ‘strategic signing’ and recognise that it is impossible to avoid a bidding war for some players.

Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool have also been linked with the 6 ft 3 teenager, who will soon enter into the last 12 months of his contract with Lille.

After clinching Champions League qualification for next season, Lille head coach Fonseca argued that Yoro had everything in his locker to join a top club and become a world-class central defender.

‘I believe Leny in the next year will be at one of the best clubs in Europe,’ he told reporters.

‘He started here at 16 with us. He is very ambitious but very disciplined.

‘He grew a lot but he is a kid with a big maturity, with big quality.

‘He’s very focused, very concentrated, he wants to learn every day.

‘I have no doubt in modern football he will be one of the best central defenders in the world.’

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