Man United beat Liverpool to the signing of Leny Yoro this summer but the Merseyside club had a different plan for the 18-year-old talent.
The youngster impressed in Ligue 1 last season featuring 44 times for Lille and his performances caught the attention of several of Europe’s biggest clubs ahead of the summer transfer window. With just one year remaining on his contract, it was known that the French club were open to selling and it was Man United who eventually landed the centre-back.
The Manchester club secured Yoro as part of a deal worth an initial £52.2m, with potential add-ons of around £7m.
The Red Devils beat the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the race, with the Liverpool Echo now revealing why the Reds didn’t pursue the defender harder. According to their report, the Merseyside club couldn’t justify spending over £52m on Yoro last month because they felt he would have only been their fifth-choice centre-back this season.
The signing of the French star would have been with an eye on the future, which is not a good sign for Man United, who need the 18-year-old to perform from the off.
Liverpool made a wise decision regarding the signing of Leny Yoro
£52.5m is a lot of money for an 18-year-old defender who had just one year on his contract and therefore, Liverpool’s decision not to pursue the French talent harder was a smart one. The Reds have plenty of options at centre-back with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and Sepp van den Berg already at Anfield.
Man United were desperate for a new central defender and felt that Yoro was worth the money. The French star’s time at the Manchester club is already off to a bad start as a foot injury picked up during pre-season will see him out of action for around three months.
Special things are expected from Yoro but only time will tell if Man United were right to part ways with such a large transfer fee.
This article could have been written in a much less provocatory way and still passed the same amount of information to the reader.
Liverpool already have lots of centre backs, as we already know. Manchester United don’t have depth with quality central defenders. The two teams situations shouldn’t be compared – as if one out-smarted the other. So, you’re correct. Liverpool were wise not to buy Yoro. They don’t need a centre back. Man Utd’s activity in the current transfer market is sorting things out nicely for them.