Why Leny Yoro chose Man Utd over Real Madrid explained after staggering difference emerges

Manchester United won the battle with Real Madrid to sign Leny Yoro this summer, but further light has now been shed on the measures they went to financially in order to do so.

Yoro was Man Utd’s most expensive signing of the summer, costing £52m (€62m/$68m) to join from Lille after his emergence with the French Ligue 1 side. However, it has now been explained how Man Utd made a major financial commitment to Yoro himself contractually too.

An explainer by Spanish paper Marca has detailed why Real Madrid – who were Man Utd’s main competition in the race for Yoro and at times appeared to be the teenager’s preferred destination – failed to sign any new defender this summer, despite club captain Nacho leaving for Al-Qadsiah after his contract expired.

Interestingly, the report explains that Real Madrid were only willing to offer Yoro a salary worth €2.5m per season (around £40,000 per week, or $2.8m per year).

So, when Man Utd tabled a salary worth €9.5m per season (£154,000 per week, or $10.5m per year), Yoro chose the more financially lucrative route.

It begs the question of whether it is a good sign that Man Utd are able to outmuscle a club as powerful as Real Madrid by offering significantly more to a target, or if they may have gone too far.

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It will be up to Yoro to prove his worth on the pitch later this season, but his competitive debut for Man Utd is currently being delayed due to an ankle injury that is still expected to sideline him for another couple of months.

Man Utd followed up his arrival with an extra centre-back reinforcement later in the transfer window, reuniting Erik ten Hag with his former Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt by buying the Dutchman from Bayern Munich in a double deal that also included full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

Why Real Madrid refused to sign any Yoro alternative

But after missing out on Yoro for themselves, Real Madrid did not acquire any other new defender. Their motivation was that it was best to avoid a signing for the sake of it that could turn out to become burdensome, preferring to wait and see if another talent can break out like Yoro.

That might even happen from within their own ranks. Real Madrid – led by legendary head coach Carlo Ancelotti – are said to have high hopes for 17-year-old centre-back Joan Martinez, who joined their academy from Levante last year.

Unfortunately, after featuring for the reigning Champions League holders in pre-season, Martinez has suffered an ACL injury that means his breakthrough will have to wait until 2025.

Nevertheless, Marca indicates that Real Madrid could reward the sidelined youngster with a new contract.

Marca maintains that Real Madrid are in the market for a young defender who can become a mainstay for the next decade, but the chances of such a deal materialising in January are strongly played down.

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