Manchester United have ultimately got an opportunity to improve their defense by a huge margin by signing Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane at the end of this season. According to Manchester Evening News, the Frenchman could be attainable easily because of his dip in form and his contract situation which has worsened a lot.
Raphael Varane is approaching the final 18 months of his contract at Santiago Bernabeu and after spending 8 years at the Bernabeu, he is now a shadow of his former self since the turn of the year. That being said, the 27-year-old is undoubtedly one of the best defenders in world football with a lot more years left in him and it would be silly to write him off just yet.
It’s not the first time that United are in pursuit for him, trying to get him back in 2011, with Sir Alex at the helm. Then things didn’t work out and United went on to sign Phil Jones while Varane made his way into Spain. The difference lies in what happened afterwards. Jones never reached the heights of a top of the line defender, but Varane a complete 5-star material afterwards.
“I hurtled down on the train from Euston to Lille to sign the young French defender Raphael Varane,” Ferguson had written in his book, “Leading”, back in 2015. “David Gill was getting into the finer points of the contract with Lens when Zinedine Zidane got wind of this and somehow scooped him up for Real Madrid from under our noses.”
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United has suffered problems with the defense since the breathtaking partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic had served their time. The young defenders who were learning from them, kind of went on a different path- not what United wanted. Splashing hundreds of millions to secure the back 4 have all gone to waste, with the last signing of Harry Maguire for 80m also a blunder. The England international has been disappointing over the last few months and he is nowhere close to justifying his price tag. His partners, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, also haven’t been the best, giving out easy opportunities in front of goal and haven’t been consistent.
Raphael Varane is at the peak of his career right now, with a few bad games behind him and he could be that upgrade United have been wanting for years. The 27-year-old is an excellent passer from the back and he is very good at reading the game, a proper captain material for this United side. Furthermore, he is a lot quicker than the likes of Maguire and his signing would allow United to play with a high pressing line, a crucial tactical adjustment if you want to play fast attacking football. This faulty implementation of the high pressing line has also been one of the reasons they have been conceding goals.
The Frenchman has won everything with Los Blanco seen winning the World Cup back in 2018. He could take up a new challenge up in England, if he deems so.
