Manchester United more ‘advanced’ than PSG but club want £78m for teenager

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Manchester United’s pursuit with Lille defender Leny Yoro is more ‘advanced’ than PSG’s but the Premier League giants have been quoted a staggering £78 million for the teenage Frenchman.

While a centre-half remains high on Erik ten Hag’s post-Christmas wishlist, bringing one in looks far easier said than done.

Lille, for instance, are determined to retain the services of Leny Yoro until the summer, with Champions League qualification on the cards for Les Dogues. As such, president Olivier Letang has slapped a 90 million euro on the 18-year-old’s head in an attempt to put a potential departure firmly on the backburner until the summer.

Manchester United like Lille wonderkid Leny Yoro

According to Le10 Sport, Manchester United have contacted Lille, and are more ‘advanced’ at this stage than Paris Saint-Germain. Letang is keen to avoid giving United any hope that a deal can be done before the month is out, however, with that eye-watering £78 million price-tag certain to bring an early end to United’s hopes of striking a mid-season deal.

The Red Devils, as The Athletic point out, are likely to be restricted to short-term bargain deals yet again in January.

Unless funds can be raised via the sales of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Casemiro and co, the club’s more extravagant central defensive targets may have to be revisited in the summer, when INEOS’ takeover will finally have been ratified.

The next Raphael Varane?

Yoro only turned 18 in November. His supreme performances at the heart of the Lille backline have drawn comparisons with Arsenal’s former St Etienne wonderkid William Saliba, while others have labelled hte 6ft 3ins teenager the second coming of Varane.

“He could pass for someone fragile, but he is a monster,” a source familiar with Yoro’s rapid rise to prominence tells Le Parisien.

“When I saw Leny Yoro, he was a portrait of Raphael Varane. The same attitude, the same potential, the same maturity at the same age, the same size…”

United are also considering Jean-Clair Todibo, Antonio Silva, Jarrad Branthwaite, Giorgio Scalvini and Goncalo Inacio, with all five players expected to cost a minimum of £40 million.