Leny Yoro’s mother has revealed all about the moment her son chose to sign for Manchester United over Real Madrid amid a tense transfer battle in 2024.
Manchester United signed young French centre-back Leny Yoro from Lille as part of a £52 million deal in 2024 that was widely debated at the time.
Yoro had been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid for most of the year prior to that summer window. It was widely expected that he would transfer to Los Blancos either that summer or in 2025 once his contract with Lille expired.
However, with Omar Berrada and Rio Ferdinand heavily involved in talks, United managed to convince the teen star to put pen to paper on a five-year contract, with Yoro lined up to become a superstar at Old Trafford in the future.
After suffering an injury in pre-season, Yoro made his debut for the club in December and has since gone on to play 32 times at United and become a regular starter under Rúben Amorim.
The exact moment Yoro chose United over Madrid
Yoro comes from a very hard-working French family with three younger brothers. His mother, Flore Baugnies, recently spoke to The Athletic about her son’s rise to prominence in European football and the exact moment he knew he wanted to play for United.
Transfer expert David Ornstein broke the news that Yoro was flying to Manchester to sign for then-manager Erik ten Hag’s team in mid-July. Days prior, after a discussion with his mother, Yoro himself came to the conclusion that he would join United.
“He always knew that at some point he’d go abroad, he’s always loved the English league, so for him it was logical,” Baugnies explained. “It’s a very big club, with an incredible history. I know he’s always loved that club.”
Continuing, she said: “We discussed it a bit. I really let him make his own decision. We talked about it without really talking about it, and one day I think he just said quite simply: ‘Well, that’s it, I’m going to Manchester’.
“It was up to him to forge his own path and become an adult.
“They (United) really had a project for him, a project to make a team with young players, and he really liked that. He could be part of those who would ‘rebuild’ Manchester United’s history.”
Yoro is creating his own history at United
When Yoro signed for United from Lille, English football fans could have been excused for not knowing too much about the young defender. There were immediate comparisons to Ferdinand and former United centre-back Raphaël Varane.
However, Yoro is starting to create his own history and legacy at Old Trafford, with the player proving himself to be quite a unique centre-back under Amorim.
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While Ferdinand and Varane played as part of a back two, Yoro is coming into his own in Amorim’s back three, having excelled as a right, left, and central part of the back line.
What has been very interesting is just how well he has played on the left. Despite being right-footed, Yoro has picked up the slack after Lisandro Martínez’s injury without skipping a beat, putting consistently stunning displays behind left wing-back Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu.
It says everything about Yoro that, as a player who does not shy away from a challenge, he came to the conclusion to sign for United by himself, with minimal outside influence, regardless of the level of interest shown from Madrid.
In Yoro, Amorim has found himself a top defensive talent who, should the Portuguese head coach’s revival of United become a success, will become a stellar figure and potential captain of the club in the years to come.
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