AC Milan target £40-50m Leny Yoro reunion with Amorim in summer defensive rebuild

AC Milan are targeting Manchester United defender Leny Yoro as a priority signing for next summer, with the Serie A club prepared to spend between €40m and €50m to secure the 20-year-old Frenchman, according to Calcio Mercato.

Milan’s recruitment team is planning a broader defensive rebuild, with a central defender at the top of their January and summer shortlists. The report names Roma’s Daniele Ghilardi, Lecce’s Thiago Gabriel and Sporting CP’s Goncalo Inacio as shorter-term options for January, but Yoro is identified as the preferred long-term target — one the Rossoneri hope to land with the help of his agent, Jorge Mendes.

The potential move carries a notable subplot: Yoro played more than 50 times under Ruben Amorim during the Portuguese coach’s tenure at Manchester United, and Amorim is now in charge at Milan’s San Siro. That existing relationship is understood to be a factor in the club’s interest.

Yoro joined United from Lille in the summer of 2024 for a reported initial fee of around £52m, but a pre-season foot injury delayed his competitive debut until December of that year — by which point both Erik ten Hag and caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy had already departed Old Trafford. He found his most consistent form under Amorim before the manager left for Milan.

Under current United head coach Michael Carrick, Yoro has started three Premier League matches this season, all of them at right-back — a position Gary Neville has publicly described as evidence of negligence in United’s transfer planning. A costly error in the home defeat to Bournemouth and a red card in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid have further complicated his campaign.

With Harry Maguire featuring in every Premier League starting line-up under Carrick and Lisandro Martinez also in the mix when available, Yoro’s opportunities at his natural centre-back position have been limited. United paid a significant fee for a player who has yet to establish himself as a regular starter, and with his stock dipping amid a turbulent period for the club, a summer exit is increasingly plausible.