Liverpool stunned as Man Utd formalise interest in £78m target; Real Madrid, PSG threaten Ratcliffe plan

Manchester United have made signing a top young defender their priority for the summer and a fresh report has revealed their main target.

New minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to make Old Trafford the best place to develop exciting prospects and has several names on his shortlist already.

A new centre-back is the first task for Ratcliffe and soon-to-be new Man Utd director of football Dan Ashworth, who looks set to be poached from Newcastle.

Raphael Varane is thought to be leaning towards leaving Old Trafford at the end of the season amid interest from Saudi Arabia, while the futures of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans are in doubt.

Man Utd have a number of exciting names on their wish list, with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo both targets.

Lille star Leny Yoro is another player who has been linked with the Red Devils for some time and it seems that they will focus their efforts on him in the coming months.

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Leny Yoro is ‘one of Man Utd’s summer priorities’

Spanish outlet AS has confirmed that Yoro is ‘one of Man Utd’s priorities’ for the summer and they ‘recently expressed interest’ in a deal for him.

Yoro broke into the Lille first team in 2022 and has established himself as one of the French club’s most important players.

The talented 18-year-old has made 20 Ligue 1 appearances this season, scoring two goals and helping his club to keep 12 clean sheets in the process.

Previous reports suggest that Lille will consider offers in the region of £78m for Yoro at the end of the campaign.

However, Man Utd will face competition for the defender. AS say Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are also in the race, while Liverpool are also admirers of his.

Madrid have ‘had Yoro on their agenda for months’ and is ‘very popular with their technical staff.’ PSG ‘tried to sign him in January’ but Yoro wanted to assess his options in the summer.

Man Utd are ready to compete with Yoro’s other suitors but the clear obstacle to them securing a deal is Lille’s huge price tag.

While Ratcliffe is personally keen on a move for Yoro, Man Utd will have to sell several players before pursuing a transfer of that size.

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