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Writer's pictureKenyah Robyn Lyle

Leny Yoro: Great Signing or Overpaid?

Manchester United's INEOS era has started, as the new minority shareholders experience their first Summer transfer window at Old Trafford. This will be an important moment for INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe as they can finally implement change and their own initiatives in the club.


They have already made some progressive steps by hiring new backroom staff that helps with making better business decisions. Despite this, there are still some concerns amongst fans surrounding new signing Leny Yoro, who United signed for £60M.



The young defender completed his medical this week at Manchester United after transferring to the English club from French side Lille.


Despite being 18 years old, the centre back has drawn attention from big clubs such as Real Madrid, who were a real threat to the signing. In fact, it was reported by Fabrizio Romano that Florentino Perez was confident in the signing and was willing to wait until the end of next season to sign Yoro, as he only had one year left on his contract.


It is also thought that Yoro himself wanted the Real Madrid move before being offered a big move this Summer.



However, he is now a United player, playing his first game in new colours under head coach Erik Ten Hag as the club faced Rangers in a 2-0 win in their pre-season friendly. Yet it brings about the conversation of the fee for Leny Yoro.


He admittedly has a bright future and has progressed a lot in recent years by going from Lille B, to Lille and now signing for the red side of Manchester but the fee of £60M for an 18 year old who has played one season at the top level in France is a massive risk.


It's an especially big risk considering United allowed 18 year old academy graduate Willy Kambwala to leave for Villareal despite playing a handful of games last season when Martinez & Maguire were injured.



More notably, the player had only one year left on his contract and would've been a free agent at the end of next season, albeit taking this route would see competition from other clubs such as Real Madrid.


However, United could have spent a year building a relationship with Yoro and could have persuaded him to join in the following summer. We have seen clubs like Arsenal do this to Declan Rice despite treble winners Manchester City also bidding for him and being a more attractive fit at the time.


The addition of Leny Yoro is exciting to Manchester United fans, especially considering all the defensive issues they faced last season. He is a young and impressionable defender who can become a real shining star for Manchester United in the Ten Hag era.


However the fee has caused some lingering doubts as to whether business at United has actually changed, paying £60M for a youngster who has only ever played one full season in a top flight league can raise concern for fans but this can be easily distinguished if the young player is able to shine like he did at Lille in the Premier League.







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