Leny Yoro flying in for Manchester United medical after breakthrough in £52m transfer | OneFootball

Red Devils make breakthrough in battle to beat Real Madrid to talented teenage defender

The 18-year-old has caught the eye as one of the continent’s top talents since emerging at Lille and has been made available for transfer ahead of his contract expiring next season.

Reports yesterday indicated an agreement between United and Lille over a £52million transfer and The Athletic now report on Yoro flying in to undergo a medical.

Personal terms are almost finalised, it is said, after Yoro agreed to ditch his preferred plan of signing for Real Madrid.

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Los Blancos have been widely tipped by the Spanish media to sign the centre-back but have not matched United’s bid and were hoping to land him as a free agent in a year’s time.

That outcome was not favourable for Ligue 1 club Lille, who have reportedly encouraged Yoro to head to Manchester and, while the deal is not done yet, United are closing in on what has been described as a major transfer coup.

Yoro made his debut aged just 16 and has already racked up 60 appearances with a team which finished fourth in the French top flight last season. Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked.

Man Utd are said to still be keen on reinforcing their defence having bid for Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite but those deals may now be contingent on income from sales. Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee signed for £35.8m on the weekend and a defensive midfielder such as PSG’s Manuel Ugarte is also reportedly a target.