Real Madrid stance could boost Man Utd bid for £35m wonderkid following Fabrizio Romano update

Real Madrid could hand an unlikely boost to Manchester United’s attempts to boost their defensive ranks after revealing their stance over a move for highly-rated Lille centre-back Leny Yoro.

The likes of United, Real and Liverpool were handed something of a boost last month when Lille club president Olivier Letang confirmed both Yoro and Canada international Jonathan David ‘have an exit voucher’ and would be allowed to depart the Ligue 1 club in the near future. Spanish giants Real were named as Yoro’s preferred destination and transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has now claimed the defender has made that to clear.

He posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Leny Yoro keeps giving priority to Real Madrid, now waiting on clubs to agree on deal. Real Madrid also informed that he will not sign new deal at Lille, no chance — the strategy is clear. PSG and Liverpool, waiting only in case deal collapses.”

Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo have now claimed Real have made their position over moves for Yoro and Bayern Munich full-back Alphonso Davies ‘very clear’ to both clubs. The report reveals Lille are asking for around €40million for their young centre-back - but stressed Real are only willing to spend around half of that amount to secure a deal.

Although United were not mentioned in the update, the young centre-back is believed to have been monitored by Red Devils recruitment staff and has been routinely mentioned as a possible target as Ten Hag looks to boost his options in defence. However, there will be major competition as Yoro approaches a decision over his next move and former Lille manager Paulo Fonseca, who was recently appointed at Serie A giants AC Milan has already told interested clubs just how far the youngster could go in the future.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, he said: "To me the players don't have age, they have quality. Because here we don't have the possibility to buy very expensive players, we find a way to make the young players grow. I believe Leny (Yoro) in the next year will be at one of the best clubs in Europe. 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 and I have no doubt in modern football he will be one of the best central defenders in the world."

The likes of Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, Everton star Jarrad Branthwaite and Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt have also been linked with a move to Old Trafford - and there have been suggestions the latter of that trio is closing in on a £42m move that would see him reunite with his former Ajax head coach. Reports earlier this week stated De Ligt had ‘given the green light’ to a move to United as initial talks between the two clubs progressed.