Manchester United and PSG have reportedly made offers to secure the services of Raphael Varane, with Real Madrid open to the possibility of a summer sale.
According to a report from Spanish outlet Diario Madridista, Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has offers from Premier League giants Manchester United and Ligue 1 champions PSG as he contemplates his future at the club.
The 27-year-old has been with Real Madrid since 2011 and has since steadily grown into one of the best central defenders in the game. The Frenchman has won a host of titles and trophies in his decade-long stint with Los Blancos while he was also an integral part of the France team that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
A mainstay at the back for the Merengues, Varane is considering his future at the club as per reports last month. This has put a host of clubs across Europe on high-alert, with Manchester United and PSG said to be at the forefront of the interest in the 27-year-old.
Manchester United have plenty of options in the centre-back department, with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones, who has been drafted back into the club’s Premier League squad for the second half of the season.
However, Jones and Bailly are known to be injury-prone while Lindelof has lacked the element of consistency in his performances. So, adding another experienced centre-half to the midst as a long-term partner for Maguire would make a lot of sense for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer & co.
Sevilla’s Jules Kounde was touted to be Manchester United’s priority target for the summer. However, Varane’s potential availability could change things as Real Madrid are considering letting the Frenchman leave and invest the proceeds from his sale into a squad rebuild at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Manchester United are not alone in pursuit of the World Cup winner as PSG, too, are keen on signing him up. Les Parisiens lost veteran centre-back, Thiago Silva, last summer and failed to replace him. Someone as accomplished as Varane would be an ideal candidate to fill in the vacant shoes left behind by the Brazilian.
To that end, both Manchester United and PSG have approached Real Madrid and expressed their interest in Varane. Los Blancos, for their part, would consider offloading the 27-year-old and believe that he can fetch a transfer fee of at least €50 million in the current market situation.
With Varane’s contract expiring at the end of next season, it remains to be seen if Real Madrid decide to cash in on him in the upcoming summer window. For now, though, both Manchester United and PSG are keen to sign him and are likely to continue monitoring the situation closely.
