Record-breaking Man Utd move ON as Ratcliffe strategy stings Real ...

Manchester United are turning the pressure dial firmly up in their attempts to sign Leny Yoro with a bold new double tactic from Sir Jim Ratcliffe designed to help the Red Devils win the transfer race and simultaneously crush Florentino Perez’s dreams of bringing the teenager to Real Madrid.

The British billionaire has full sporting control at Old Trafford following his £1.3bn investment into 27.7 percent of the Glazers’ stake earlier this year and is wasting little time in his mission to steer his beloved Manchester United back to the pinnacle of English and European football. And while the first few months of his reign saw the 71-year-old focusing on making a number of key appointments behind the scenes, United are very much putting all their energies into squad strengthening now.

To that end, TEAMtalk understands United want a minimum of four and potentially as many as seven big-money signings this summer to help bring that plan to reality.

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And Ratcliffe, working alongside the recently-appointed Omar Berrada (chief executive) and Dan Ashworth (sporting director), wants to strengthen the spine of the side, with at least one new centre-half, a new midfielder and additions to the attack very much on his summer wishlist.

While an element of patience has needed to be applied, United now have the first of those signings in the bag with the club confirming on Sunday they had paid a premium fee of €42.5m (£35.7m) to capture forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna.

However, the Netherlands striker looks unlikely to be their last attacking addition after Fabrizio Romano confimed talks were being held over two more potential additions and to form a mouthwatering new attacking partnership.

Of course, the Red Devils are also badly keen to strengthen in the centre of their defence too, with the exit of Raphael Varane making room for one new arrival at least.

The saving of his £340,000 a week wages off the Old Trafford balance sheet grants them more than a little freedom, while TEAMtalk understands that offers will also be considered this summer for both Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, granting them the freedom to potentially make two new defensive additions.

The man top of their wishlist is Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt and there is an optimism at Old Trafford that the 24-year-old can become their second Dutch signing of the summer. The fact that De Ligt has indicated his willingness to reduce his salary in order to seal a reunion with Erik ten Hag at United gives more than a little cause for optimism.

United, though, are also in the mix for two more centre-halves in the form of Jarrad Branthwaite and Yoro, having made concrete moves for both.

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Of the two, Branthwaite is understood to be their preferred option, though Everton’s unwillingness to negotiate on their minimum £70m valuation makes a move tough to pull off.

United have so far had two offers rejected by the Toffees for the 21-year-old, the second of which topped out at £50m (£45m plus £5m in add-ons).

But with Everton favouring the sale of Amadou Onana this summer for a large fee, and having already appeased the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules by selling Lewis Dobbin (£10m to Aston Villa) and Ben Godfry (£10m to Atalanta), they are now under no pressure to cash in on Branthwaite.

All is not lost, though, for United, who do have another iron in the fire in the form of Yoro.

United have already had a €50m (£42m) offer for the teenage centre-half accepted by Lille this summer. And with a year left on his deal, the French side have accepted they will have little choice but to cash in on their 18-year-old prodigy.

A move to Old Trafford though is far from cut and dried, however, with Real Madrid also pursuing his signature and with Yoro himself making clear he wants to move to the Bernabeu if the opportunity arises this summer.

Knowing that as a fact, canny Los Blancos president Florentino Perez has seen his own opening bid for the player – believed to be worth €35m (£29.4m) rejected.

Perez is, though, prepared to play the long game and he believees that the player’s preference will ultimately see the Spanish giants prevail, especially with Lille knowing they can negotiate the player’s free-transfer signing in less than six months time.

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However, new reports from France claim United are far from ready to give up on signing Yoro and Ratcliffe is now ready to put a new strategy in place designed to crush Real and see Perez’s dreams implode.

And per the report, and despite having an offer already accepted by Lille, United are ready to raise their offer for Yoro to €60m (£50.4m) to put him way beyond Real’s reach and in order for the French side to turn the screw on the player and get him to accept the move to Old Trafford.

Furthermore, Le Parisien states that Ratcliffe will task the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, with convincing the player of the merits of moving to Old Trafford, having already moved a number of his clients to United over the years.

United’s fresh attempts for Yoro are described by the report as ‘significant’ with Yoro now said to be ‘touched by’ the concrete efforts taken by Ratcliffe to sign him.

The report concludes that a decision on the saga – which will set a new United record fee ever paid for a teenager and the sixth biggest of all time – could actually arrive ‘in a few days’ with Yoro now ready to make a final decision on his future.