If things had gone to plan for Real Madrid, Wednesday’s trip to Lille in the Champions League might have been an early homecoming for one of their bright new stars.
Madrid made Leny Yoro, the 18-year-old French centre-back, their key target this summer after signing Kylian Mbappe and Endrick. But, much to Los Blancos’ surprise, Yoro chose to leave Lille for Manchester United instead, joining for €62million (£52m; $67.9m) with a further €8m in add-ons.
Most clubs are used to missing out on transfer targets — but not Madrid. In recent years, they have meticulously tracked players they want and nearly always secured their signatures, despite competition from Premier League clubs and Paris Saint-Germain.
After failing in their pursuit of Yoro, Madrid decided not to make any more signings. It has left them short at centre-back, where Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger are their only two fit senior options with David Alaba injured (although Yoro then suffered a foot injury with United, which means he is yet to make his official debut for them). But they have shown interest in the 18-year-old Palmeiras defender Vitor Reis — more on him later.
Here, The Athletic explains what went wrong for Madrid with Yoro and what’s happened since then.
Madrid had tracked Yoro for some time. The centre-back fitted in perfectly with the club’s recent transfer strategy: young, considered to be a generational talent and potentially within Madrid’s means.
Chief scout Juni Calafat and his staff did what they have done so many times before, drawing up detailed reports on Yoro from a distance and going to see him live. Then they established contact with the player’s agency and those close to him.
The turning point in Madrid’s decision to pursue the signing was Alaba’s serious knee injury in late December. The club’s idea until then had been to scour the market for centre-backs with a view to making a move in 2025 instead of this year, even after Militao’s own anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at the start of last season. While Militao’s recovery was going well, there were doubts about Alaba given the seriousness of his injury and the Austrian’s age (he turned 32 in June).
That led the board to bring forward their plans. No signings were made in January — despite head coach Carlo Ancelotti requesting reinforcements in defence — as they preferred to make a significant investment in the summer.
Months before formal negotiations over Yoro began, Madrid were told that Lille were demanding more than €100million for the centre-back — which would have made him the most expensive defender in history.
Madrid’s general manager, Jose Angel Sanchez, was heavily involved in the process by the time formal talks started. The club told Yoro about their plans for him and explained why they wouldn’t let their approach be affected by rival interest. They provided examples of other young players, such as Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, who had given up higher salaries elsewhere to move to the Bernabeu — and enjoy a new level of profile and success.
An essential part of that process involves Madrid convincing the player not to renew with their current club. That was easy with Yoro, given his contract was set to run out in 2025 and he didn’t want to extend it.
In April, The Athletic reported that Yoro had rejected Lille’s overtures to renew his deal and that Madrid had received positive indications from his agent, Jorge Mendes. He had been in contact with Real Madrid since January, after the player officially joined his Gestifute agency the previous month. Madrid and Gestifute sources — who, like all those cited here, preferred to speak anonymously to protect relationships — say there are no bad feelings between the two sides.
The Frenchman’s entourage said they were still talking to other clubs because they were waiting to see how serious Madrid’s interest was. Yoro felt ready for a step up after two years with Lille’s senior team and, if Madrid did not make a firm effort and were not ready to wait for him to arrive on a free transfer in a year’s time, he would have to take another path.
In June, Yoro decided he wanted to move to Madrid — or so it seemed, from what his other suitors Liverpool, PSG and United were told. Their belief was that the 15-time European champions were always leading the race for him.
Madrid opened negotiations with Lille but never came close to the fee the French side were demanding for Yoro. They wanted Madrid to pay €60million, while Madrid were prepared to go to €30-40m. The player’s entourage thought a deal could be struck for €40m plus bonuses.
“(Lille president) Olivier Letang is very tough,” a source close to Lille told The Athletic at the time. “The player will leave for the club that pays the most money.”
A source involved in the process said Madrid made two formal offers. United then made a formal offer themselves which Lille accepted, but they still needed the player’s approval. Yoro’s camp continued to insist that he only wanted to sign for Madrid.
That made it even more of a surprise when, amid preparations for Mbappe’s unveiling, Mendes let Madrid know that Yoro was moving to United instead. The player himself thanked the Spanish club for their interest and explained his choice respectfully.
There were two main reasons for the change of plan. Madrid had been reluctant to offer the amount demanded by Lille, even when they were informed of United’s efforts. They had also insisted Yoro would have to be patient, with Militao and Rudiger initially ahead of him in the pecking order. By contrast, United were ready to go all out and assured him of an important role in Erik ten Hag’s squad from the start.
Senior Madrid sources told The Athletic that it was a logical decision by Yoro, given the sums United offered. But those close to Yoro deny this, saying they knew Madrid would pay less and continued talks with them regardless, even giving them priority.
As the experience of other youngsters at the club has shown, Madrid have been very willing to give those players better contracts when they have performed well. Sources close to the player say there was another English club willing to pay even more than United, so they say money wasn’t the main factor.
At that point, Madrid had to reassess their plans. They had been so certain Yoro would sign that they let promising centre-back Rafa Marin go to Napoli after a positive season on loan at Deportivo Alaves. Club captain Nacho, meanwhile, decided not to renew his deal and left for Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah.
That left Ancelotti with just two fit senior central defenders going into what club sources have described as “the most demanding season in history”, with the potential for more than 70 games across all competitions. Jesus Vallejo returned from a fifth loan spell away, this time at Granada, but the 27-year-old wasn’t in Ancelotti’s plans. As in January, the Italian coach asked for a new signing — but that did not happen.
Madrid do have an interest in players including Reis, a Brazil youth international at Palmeiras. Madrid enquired about his situation with his agency and have spoken informally with the club. Palmeiras are aware of interest from Madrid and other European sides, including Arsenal. His release clause is €100million and they have yet to set a lower asking price, as they don’t want to sell him until after the FIFA Club World Cup next summer.
In the immediate term, Madrid decided not to make any moves — with Ancelotti confirming that would be the case in his first press conference of the club’s pre-season tour to the United States. The main solution would be to use midfielder Tchouameni in that position if needed, even though the Frenchman has said publicly and privately that he does not feel comfortable there.
The board pointed out that Ancelotti could always turn to the youth academy in case of emergency. Two players who stood out were Joan Martinez, who turned 17 in August and is part of Alvaro Arbeloa’s under-19 side, and Jacobo Ramon, who has just been promoted to Raul’s Castilla team. Martinez suffered an ACL injury in training in August, although Madrid have reached an agreement in principle with him to extend his deal.
The lack of options in defence means Ancelotti and his staff expect to concede 10-15 more goals this year than last (when they conceded 50 in 55 games in all competitions). They hope to offset that with more goals from Mbappe and other forwards.
Madrid have already had to improvise in defence. Dani Carvajal played at centre-back in their opening Champions League game against Stuttgart after a number of injury concerns, while Tchouameni deputised there in the following game against Espanyol. Alaba recently returned to light training, but Madrid do not want to take any risks and plan to reintroduce him to first-team preparation in December.
Yoro’s signing would certainly have helped ease their woes in that position. How much they miss him could define their season.
(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
