Even after a decade of disappointment, Manchester United’s pulling power remains almost unmatched throughout European football.
But there is one club who still sit at the top of the tree, looking down on all the others from their position upon high. As Manchester United supporters know all too well – that Cristiano Ronaldo saga still fresh in the memory 15 years on – what Real Madrid want, they very often get.
And it certainly looks like they’ll get Leny Yoro too.
Man United had expressed an interest in the 18-year-old colossus. According to The Athletic, LOSC Lille’s Yoro was viewed as a ‘unique opportunity’ in the market. A potentially generation-defining talent who has well over a decade ahead of him at the very highest level.
Even the most optimistic United supporter knew deep down, however, that there was a sense of brutal inevitability about Yoro’s impending switch to the Santiago Bernabeu. A switch that seems almost inevitable now after the 6ft 4ins teenager told the Champions League holders that he wants to follow in the footsteps of the man he has often been compared to; the former Real great Raphael Varane.
Liverpool and Manchester United, per The Athletic adds, ‘were actively pursuing a deal to sign Yoro’. But both The Reds and The Red Devils were making their move more in hope than expectation. Hope that has now been all-but extinguished.
And, if United fans are sick of the sight of Real Madrid already this summer, then we’ve got some bad news.
Manchester United miss out to Real Madrid again
According to Diario Sport, Real are closing in on a deal for Franco Mastantuono too.
According to TYC Sports, via Scouts in Attendance, United have scouted the River Plate wonderkid. But Real Madrid are now allegedly entering the final stage of an agreement with the Argentine giants after president Florentino Perez agreed a fee worth in excess of £17 million.
Mastantuono does not even turn 17 until August. But, as he has an Italian passport, the Argentina youth star will not have to wait until his 18th birthday to cross the Atlantic, unlike the similarly Madrid-bound Brazilian wonderkid Endrick.
Mastantuono is maybe not quite as first-team ready as Yoro. But the way Real handled the development of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes will not have gone unnoticed in the winger’s camp, the Bernabeu going from the home of Galacticos to primary destination for the game’s next generation of superstars.
Like with Yoro and Varane, meanwhile, Mastantuono has also been compared to a former Real Madrid and Manchester United man.
“He still has a long way to go and a lot to improve. He could be something similar to Angel Di Maria. A skilled and elegant left-footer,” Hermes Aldo Desio, the teenager’s youth coach at River Plate, tells Diario AS.
“In addition, he also likes to cut inside from the right wing (onto) his left foot.”
Franco Mastantuono to follow Leny Yoro
There have also been comparisons with Barcelona’s Yamine Lamal. Another 16-year-old who’s remarkable rise to prominence acts as proof that, if you really are good enough, then you’re certainly old enough too.
“I highlight, above all, (Mastantuono’s) daring and bravery,” Desio adds. “At this age, he is already in the first-team. He is very ambitious in front of the opposition goal and has a multitude of technical resources.
“He shoots from outside the area, has a good shot, dares to dribble at all times and also helps out defensively.
“Playing in River’s first-team at the age of 16 means that he has something different. Although he has not had very good matches in terms of his continuity in the game, we know that he has touches and flashes that can make a difference.
“Mastantuono has similar qualities to Yamal, such as dribbling and creativity.”