According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool remain “in the race” to sign Real Madrid target and LOSC Lille defender Leny Yoro this summer.
Liverpool have officially welcomed Arne Slot as their new manager and the former Feyenoord boss has now begun his duties with his initial working days taking place this week at the AXA training ground.
The Dutchman has been settling in with a full interview released yesterday announcing himself to the supporters and giving an insight into his plans at the club beyond Jurgen Klopp’s successful reign on Merseyside.
One of the biggest priorities over Slot’s first weeks at the club will be deciding what business needs to be done to prepare the squad for the season ahead and which positions will need reinforcements.
The pressing concern is the future of the defensive line following the departure of Joel Matip, while also considering the fact that skipper Virgil van Dijk is now reaching the latter stages of his career.
As a result, it will come as no surprise that Liverpool have been strongly linked with Lille defender Leny Yoro for weeks, and now Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has given a fresh update on the player’s situation and where he is likely to end up.
The transfer expert revealed on his Playback channel:
“Months ago he decided to go to Real Madrid. Leny Yoro wants to play for Real Madrid,”
“They believe he’s going to be the next big thing, the ‘Kylian Mbappe of defenders’, let me say. They think he’s going to be special.”
“Now it’s up to Real Madrid if they want to pay for a player who’s out of contract next year. If they will go strong club to club then they can sign him, they have the green light form Yoro,”
“If Real Madrid decide against this, Liverpool are there for sure and PSG are there for sure. Don’t forget PSG, they have an excellent relationship with his agent. PSG and Liverpool are absolutely in the race for Leny Yoro.”
Will Liverpool sign Leny Yoro?
The Anfield faithful have already been burnt when the club has been competing with Real Madrid to sign a player, as both Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham were heavily documented targets for the Merseyside giants before they joined Los Blancos.
For that reason, the supporters will be hopeful but not unrealistic about the likelihood of being able to snap up the services of the €50m (£42m) young talent, but he would definitely be a fantastic addition to the defensive set up at Anfield.
Last summer a refresh and heavy investment was made on improving the midfield for the next generation as Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho departed, now it is time for the future of the defence to be considered.
Over 32 Ligue 1 appearances, the 18-year-old Frenchman scored two goals, tallied up a 92% pass completion rate and successfully completed 80% of his dribbles, as well as averaging 67.6 touches, 3.9 ball recoveries and 3.3 total duels won per game, as per SofaScore.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see just how far Liverpool are willing to go and commit to signing Yoro this summer, but with Real Madrid looming it will be no easy task.
