Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano has congratulated Manchester United on what he felt was a “really surprising” move to sign Leny Yoro from Lille this summer.
The talented young Frenchman shone in Ligue 1 to establish himself as one of the top young players in Europe, attracting strong interest from Real Madrid and also coming to pretty much a full agreement with the Spanish giants, according to Romano as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for the latest episode of The Debrief Podcast.
Romano praised Man Utd and congratulated them for this surprise deal, as he admits he fully expected Yoro to end up at Real Madrid until a few days before the Red Devils had the deal wrapped up, following a strong approach for the 18-year-old.
Yoro has now gone on to play for United in pre-season, and fans will no doubt be excited by his immense potential as the club finally starts to smarten up its recruitment with the signings of some superb long-term additions like Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee.
Yoro transfer surprised Fabrizio Romano
Discussing how the Yoro deal ended up going, Romano said: “Honestly, yes (it was surprising). “Not in the final days, because since that Tuesday when Manchester United were able to agree the fee with Lille, I understood that they were really entering strong in the race and with a good chance to make it happen. Maybe a 30-35%, but still a good chance.
“But before that, absolutely yes. If you asked me in June, in May or in April, the answer was absolutely Real Madrid. And I think if you asked Leny Yoro in that moment of the year, it was Real Madrid, absolutely. He wanted to go to Real Madrid, he agreed everything perfectly with Real Madrid, his project at Real Madrid was ready.
“So it was really surprising. And congratulations to Man United because to enter the race in that way and to be able to close the deal in almost ten days has been really, really fantastic, surprising in a positive way.
“Yoro wanted to fulfil his dream to go to Real Madrid, but then at the end of the day, they didn’t want to pay the same amount of money invested by Manchester United. So their strategy to attack on club side before and then try to convince the player was the winning strategy, while Real Madrid were convinced of Leny Yoro waiting for them probably also till next year when his contract was due to expire.
“So, yes, it was surprising, not in the final days, but I would say in terms of general feeling of the transfer window, a really surprising and fantastic signing.”
