Manchester United have announced the signing of highly rated 18-year-old centre-back Leny Yoro from Lille. (More Football News)
United are reported to have paid the French club an initial £52.2million (€62m), a fee that co𒊎uld rise to £58.9m (€70m).
The move, which is ꧅subject to regis♎tration, sees Yoro sign a five-year contract at Old Trafford, with the option for a further year.
"Signing for a club with the stature and ambition of Mancꦡhester United so early in m🍌y career is an incredible honour," Yoro said.
"Since my first conversations with the club, they set out a clear plan for hoꦕw I can develop in Manchester as part of this exciting project and showed a lot o☂f care for me and my family.
"I know about the history of young players at Manchester United and feel it can be the perfect place to reach my potential and achieve my ambitions, together with 💖my new team-mates. I cannot wait to get 🌞started."
Yoro made just 46 appearances in♛ Ligue 1, 38 as a starter, and had only a year remaining on his Lille contract, but Real Madrid wer꧑e said to be keen on the exciting young defender.
So United, who have been looking to sign at leas🌌t one centre-back in this transfer window, have made ♏their move, pipping Madrid and other potential suitors.
Erik ten Hag's side have also been linked with moves for Jarrad Branthwaite and Matthijs de Ligt and could yet r�♛�eturn to the market to further bolster their defence.
For now, United manager Ten Hag can look forwar🐟d to pairing Yo✅ro with Lisandro Martinez, who missed a large part of last season due to injury.
What will Yoro bring?
Martinez's absence impacted United's ability to play out from the back, having replaced long-standing goalkeeper D𓆉avid de Gea with Andre Onana in a bid to i💟mprove their build-up play.
Despite his inexperience, Yo﷽ro should be able to have an immediate impact in that regard, showing his ability on the ball last season as heꦕ completed 92.1% of his passes in Ligue 1.
Among United players to att🔯empt multiple passes in the Premier League in 2023-24, onཧly Martinez himself (92.2%) could top that mark.
Harry Maguire, who made more starts than any other centre-back (18) for an injury-ravaged team, ꦇtrailed considerably in that metric, completing just 83.1% of his p🥃asses.
Yoro does not yet dominate physically like Maguire or Raphael Varane in a defensive sense, but he has been compared to the France World Cup winner🅷 by Lille's academy director Jean-Michel Vandamme.
Dan Ashworth, United's sportinꦚg director, said on Thursday: "He possesses every attribute needed to develop into a top-class centre-back.🐬"
