Manchester United and Liverpool could battle it out to sign new Lille star Leni Yoro this year as the French club have decided to keep him at the Stade Pierre-Mauro.
Both Manchester United and Liverpool are in the market for a new centre-back. Manchester United could lose Raphael Varane this summer, which could open up space for a new defender to compete with Harry Maguire alongside Lisandro Martinez.
And Liverpool are looking for a low-key star to succeed Virgil van Dijk and form a solid partnership with Ibrahima Konate.
Two Premier League giants have been linked with 18-year-old Yoro, who is having a terrific season at Lille.The teenager, who played in 15 games last season, has since broken into the starting XI and has scored three goals in 24 appearances this season.
Despite his young age, Yoro is a very confident player, adept at creating play from the back and comfortable playing with either foot.No wonder Manchester United, Liverpool and other big clubs in Europe are watching his progress. Fabrizio Romano gives updates on X, formerly known as Twitter, and confirms that Man Yu Yoro has started following him.
Although major European teams Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain also participated. But Lille president Olivier Letang is not happy with the wealth of speculation surrounding the club’s newest star.
“There will be no negotiations, no discussions, despite some offers, because Yoro will not be leaving in January,” the chef told Le Parisien. “I read somewhere that I scored, but that was completely wrong.
“The transfer fee for the Lille Academy graduate was recently speculated to be in the region of £80m, but those reports appear to have missed the mark.
Manchester United and Liverpool are looking to sign new centre-backs in the summer rather than January. However, with Letang’s firm attitude, it appears that he is still trying to get a deal done with Yoro at the end of the season.
As a result, Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp will have to prioritize the moves of other defenders. Manchester United are known to be big fans of Jean-Clair Todibo, who plays for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s other club, Nice. And Todibo should be available for £45-50m, well below Yoro.
Liverpool have recently been linked with a big-money move for Ousmane Diomant from Sporting Lisbon, but Romano has cast doubt on the move.
