What would Man Utd or Liverpool stand to gain from signing Mexican magician Gilberto Mora?

[p]The 17-year-old has long been admired by some of the elite teams in world football, and his performances for one of the co-hosts at the World Cup have only added to his allure.[/p][h2]Man Utd have been interested for months[/h2][p]Despite being so young, the maturity that he displays, often in the heat of a real physical battle, is what marks him out as special.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Man Utd[/a] were one of the first to be sniffing around the player and his representatives, and it's believed that the Red Devils had held a long-standing interest in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mora-gilberto/6oBtqO4C/"]Mora[/a] that goes back many months.[/p][image alt="Gilberto Mora's recent stats" id="3cc5ea64-ccd8-41a9-a507-4a9ef8ef3c4c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="d9864b65-071e-4d83-b84b-b45b0daa3926" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]However, apparently not wishing to be dragged into a bidding war, it seems that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/carrick-michael/phM8NElP/"]Michael Carrick[/a] and the board of the club, if reports are accurate, have reluctantly decided that they may soon withdraw their initial interest.[/p][p]That would leave the way clear for any other interested parties to elbow their way to the front of the queue so to speak.[/p][h2]Mora's asking price set to rise significantly[/h2][p]As with many South American players, their agents have already mapped out a path for their career, which includes a suitable move to a European giant as and when it's deemed appropriate.[/p][p]Given that Mora only recently signed a new contract with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/club-tijuana/nuNVeQkr/"]Tijuana[/a], too, any potential purchase will now need to take that into account, pushing the asking price for the player up even further.[/p][embed guid="0edc1bdd-fbb5-42ad-8eba-c0aa5696b4c1" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2064498489514393899?lang=en" social-type="twitter" /][p]Despite the likes of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Man City[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] also making their respective positions known, with Mora understood to be particularly enamoured by the interest from Los Blancos, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] appear to be the most keen to begin formal negotiations.[/p][p]So, what would the Reds - or any other clubs - be getting for the reported £40m transfer fee it would take to acquire the attacking midfielder's services?[/p][h2]Second-best for club goals in 2025/26[/h2][p]Firstly, the player has already appeared 14 times for the Mexican men's national team, including his four appearances at this summer's World Cup.[/p][p]He's also made 53 appearances in all competitions for his club, scoring 10 goals and providing two assists.[/p][embed guid="91c8e0ef-7e2b-4245-ab8f-bba1e3893b44" url="https://x.com/OptaJoe/status/2065396754988548194" social-type="twitter" /][p]Six of those goals came in the 2025/26 campaign, which was the second-best showing in the Tijuana squad, and only bettered by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/castaneda-kevin/dQH6zfiG/"]Kevin Castaneda[/a]'s 13.[/p][p]Despite his relatively young age, his shooting accuracy of 60.87% and shot conversion rate of 19.35% were both the best returns, and his total of 22 attempts at goal were only behind Castaneda's 73, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/preciado-adonis/tY9H4CZt/"]Adonis Preciado[/a]'s 31, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/boya-frank/EPx2q8TS/"]Frank Boya[/a]'s 25 - though Mora's 14 shots on target were more than all but Castaneda.[/p][h2]Superb pass completion[/h2][p]An 86.5% pass completion stat was one of the best recorded last season, though Mora did only attempt 437 passes in total. The handful of players who had a higher reading had also made in excess of 1,000 passes each.[/p][p]Interestingly, Mora's 83.66% pass completion reading for those passes made in the opposition's half can't be topped, and nor can his crossing accuracy of 33.33% (equal to Boya).[/p][embed guid="5072b123-2fc4-4cf7-b110-1c80a226d31d" url="https://x.com/miseleccionmxEN/status/2065185351963144508?lang=en" social-type="twitter" /][p]His 72 ball recoveries evidence a tenacious side to Mora's character, though his one-on-one percentages need to improve before he can really cement himself in a league that would be much more demanding and physical than the Liga MX, with respect.[/p][p]Although his tackling success rate for 25/26 was recorded at a more than acceptable 63.64%, the talented teen attempted only 11 tackles all season, which was way down on the amount made by some of his colleagues.[/p][h2]Mora has to up the intensity levels[/h2][p]Even if one could legitimately argue that the defensive side of the game hasn't ever been his forte, that's not likely to wash with any potential new employers.[/p][p]If there's one thing that marks out an [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/iraola-andoni/xpALVpwq/"]Andoni Iraola[/a] side apart from their superb attacking football, it's the detail and intensity of the defensive aspects of the game, which makes his teams extremely hard to play against.[/p][embed guid="4661499e-ac77-4ac0-bc46-a19db7bb8532" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2073991749261783390" social-type="twitter" /][p]There's no hiding place in the Premier League or elsewhere, so if Mora wants to become the world star that many believe he can be, focusing some attention on that side of things has to be of benefit to him and, subsequently, any new club.[/p][p]For now, the player will need to be allowed time to go away and lick his wounds after Mexico's World Cup exit, and then, when he's ready to return to club business, his future can become an interesting discussion point.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]