With the Manchester Evening News outlining a few reasons why Manchester United have the opportunity to sign Raphael Varane, the publication have slipped in the fact that the Real Madrid defender is a boyhood supporter of the Red Devils whose idol was Old Trafford great Rio Ferdinand.
The MEN report that Varane was seen as a potential option in the summer of 2018, with a move impossible owing to the centre-back’s then valuation of more than £100m.
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This was during Jose Mourinho’s reign, with the Portuguese taskmaster famously moaning about the fact that the Red Devils failed to sign a central defender during that window – and rightly so as the MEN reiterate that the side went on to have their worst season defensively in 40 years.
It’s added that United also missed out on signing Varane when he was just 18 years old, they were close to sealing a deal when Zinedine Zidane and Madrid swooped in.
Varane’s potential signing has been discussed due to the fact the world-class defender is approaching the final 18 months of his contract.
With Varane’s price-tag now comfortably below £100m, United have been offered the slight hope of a potential deal, which will be still difficult as long as Zidane as in charge of Los Blancos.
Of course there’s every chance that the 27-year-old could bask in likely interest from across the world before ultimately signing a more lucrative contract with Madrid.
From a business perspective, Varane shouldn’t even think about re-signing whilst we’re in the midst of the pandemic – he’d be better off waiting for Madrid’s finances to recover before deciding his future.
United do need to think carefully though, Varane hasn’t looked very solid as of late, with teammate Karim Benzema’s agent suggesting this has been the case since the defeat to Manchester City.
Varane also endured the heartache of scoring an own-goal for France during this international break, with Didier Deschamps’ men looking quite shaky at the back.
Varane continues to be a key player for Los Blancos though, the France international has played the entire 90 minutes in all but one of the side’s 10 matches across all competitions so far.
Straight swap for ZZ favourite – Pogba?
Leaving better possibilities for van de Beek and youngsters Galbraith, Garner, Puigmal.