Manchester United make breakthrough in bid to sign Leny Yoro ahead of Real Madrid

Manchester United have made a breakthrough in their attempt to sign Lille centre-back Leny Yoro ahead of Real Madrid, according to reports in France.

United are looking to recruit at least one new central defender this summer and the 18-year-old is on their shortlist alongside Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.

It’s understood that United’s €50 million (£42.2m) bid for Yoro has been accepted by Lille, but the Premier League club still have work to do in order to convince the defender to make the move to Old Trafford.

Their biggest hurdle is currently the lure of Real Madrid, with Yoro said to prefer a switch to the Champions League holders this summer.

However, Madrid are yet to match United’s offer and their current highest bid is €20m (£16.8m).

According to L’Equipe’s Nabil Djellit and FootMercato, Yoro is now reconsidering United’s approach and is in talks with the Premier League side over his salary demands.

It’s also claimed that members of Yoro’s entourage are pushing for the defender to make the move to United as they believe he could quickly establish a place in Erik ten Hag’s side.

Madrid are said to now be in danger of missing out on Yoro unless they improve their offer to Lille.

United’s €50m (£42.2m) offer for Yoro also includes a further €12m (£10m) in add-ons.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are refusing to rule out the prospect of De Ligt leaving following United’s approach for the Netherlands international this month.

‘The transfer period is still long,’ Bayern’s sporting director Christoph Freund said on Tuesday.

‘We currently have a very, very good squad. We cannot rule out whether anything will change then – including some who could leave the club. There is a lot of speculation at the moment, but we cannot say more about it at the moment.’

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