Raphael Varane has been linked with a move to Premier League giants Chelsea FC for a while now and it seems that Jose Mourinho is intent on getting his man.
According to reports in the Metro, Chelsea are set to make a A?35.8 million bid in the next few weeks for the France international.
The 22-year-old signed for Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho, when the present Chelsea manager was in charge of Los Blancos back in 2011. Heavily rated since those days, the central defender was expected to do big things for Real Madrid in the future as under the Portuguese, the youngster (then only a teenager) started in important fixtures and was slowly edging first team regular Pepe from the side.
However, since the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti, Varane has found himself receded to the bench more than he’d like. He has been operated as a squad player with Pepe and Sergio Ramos the preferred centre-back pairing for big games. The centre-back has 36 appearances in all competitions this season but 9 of those have come from the bench. This has added fuel to the rumors of Varane heading out in the summer, and reuniting with former boss Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have used John Terry and Gary Cahill as their preferred centre back partnership for large parts of the season but the manager has to look at the future as Terry is nearing the end of his career and Cahill’s performances have declined recently. Kurt Zouma looks like the player who would be in the Blues’ defence in the coming future and Varane might be the one who pairs up alongside him for the league champions elect.
With Pepe set to offer a new contract extension, Varane could be even more tempted to leave the club and head to another top club, where he knows the manager so well, and the glamour of the English Premier League may prove to be very tempting as well. Definitely a transfer that seems plausible.